Zane's Fate
by The Gray Ninja246
Summary: One day, a mysterious visitor arrives at the Destiny's Bounty. He has a strange appearance, but what is even more so strange about him is his fascination with Zane. Zane notices this, but he does his best to ignore it. But then, he's gone. Mysteriously vanished, and everyone is frantic about the nindroid. What will they do if they find out about Zane's fate? NinjaxOC JayxNya
1. Prologue

**Okay. I was looking at a few images of Zane, and I came across a poster about the fourth season of Ninjago (it is coming out December, so only one more month to wait!), and I decided to make a fanfic out of it. So, um, yeah.**

**I still have to work on the other chapters, but I don't give a crap (yet). Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago**

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Prologue

A dark figure stood on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a bright and noisy city. The moon was casting silvery light all over the landscaping, turning it into a land of precious metal.

A cold smile curled the mouth of the figure as it stared towards a newly restored ship with a dragon figurehead. A flash of white and black cloth with golden armor and a golden hilt announced his presence.

The figure's lip curled in a sneer whenever he recognized the military buzzed, almost white beach blond hair and the piercing, ice blue eyes.

The Ice Ninja placed his palms on the kitchen counter, facing the others. The expressions on the Ninjas' and Kunoichis's faces were happy and excited, relieved and slightly tired, due to the stress that they had been under for the last few hours.

The figure pushed down the hood of his cloak, the moonlight glinting off the cold metal bands that wrapped around the right side of his head, a smaller piece of metal encircling his eye. Gay laughter reached his ears.

_You may think that you have won, Ninja,_ the figure thought, _but I will bring your destruction at the hand of one of your own. And not even Lloyd will be able to stop me._ With those thoughts burning in the figure's mind, he slowly turned and walked away.

Meanwhile, down in the newly restored _Destiny's Bounty_, Zane was laughing as hard as the others, ignorant of the fact that, in time, he will have to leave…_forever_.

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**Okay, okay. I know it is rather short, but longer chapters will come. Most of my prologues are usually about the same size as this, so, yeah.**

**Catchy, for the prologue? Please tell me in da reviews! I'm going to say this, get it over and done with. Your reviews are my motivations for all of my stories. Now, since I've said that, I'm good.  
**

**Review, please? And have a good day/night.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Okay, I apologize about not updating in a while, but you have writer's block to blame it on. Do you know how long it took me to write this entire chapter? Right after I posted the prologue. I suffer through some _very_ serious cases of writer's block, and whenever that happens, it requires some MAJOR going through.**

**Anyways, _Zane's Fate_ involves _all_ of my OCs, so check out my profile for their descriptions. Also, about this story, this is what I think will happen in the newest season that is coming out next month. (YAY!) So, yeah.**

**This chapter took up about 5 and 3/4 on a Word Document, font size 14. I write the entire story on like you would a regular book, and then break it down my chapters. So, yeah (again). Enough of my blabber. Just start reading.  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago (just my OCs)**

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(Cole's POV)

I stretched and yawned, my eyes half-closed from sleepiness and exhaustion. I've had some pretty rough days/nights, but yesterday took the award. The longest time without sleep, and naturally, it _had_ to be the day of the Final Battle (ugh).

I swung my legs out of my bed and placed my feet firmly on the brand new hard wood floor. Since we had to rebuild the _Destiny's Bounty_, we decided to go with some of the plans that Jay and Nya whipped up a few years ago.

Zane got his dream kitchen; Kai got his own recording studio (the guy comes up with some neat songs, okay?); Jay and Nya got a room solely for their inventions, and I got my own personal gym. True, its small, but it's big enough to have a bench press, a huge stack of dumbbells, a treadmill, and a pull-up bar.

I opened the door, almost having a heart attack from a bruised and cut Blondie who is a head shorter than me.

"Good grief," I said as I leaned against the door frame, my arms crossed over my chest. "Don't scare me like that."

Emily smiled, her black eye adding a shadowed effect to her stormy blue-gray eyes.

"Sorry," she replied, "I thought that you needed a wake up call." She flashed me a wicked grin. I looked at her with my best _I am not amused_ look.

"Will you two shut the heck _up_?" Kai snapped crankily from behind me. I looked over my shoulder. He was glaring at me, but with the side of his major spikes flattened, his hair made his head look lopsided.

"You _always_ say that, Kai." Sam walked past the open door, giving the Fire Ninja a swift glance before continuing on. Kai immediately pushed back the covers and ran out of the door, chasing her onto the deck.

"I wonder if they'll destroy Ninjago's record for the most flirtatious couple," Jay said, lifting his head up. His big deep blue eyes fuzzy with sleep. I shrugged before looking back at Emily. She was rolling her eyes before grabbing my upper arm and dragging me onto the deck.

"How do you two manage to start training before breakfast?" I asked the sparring couple.

"You have a problem with that, you have Emily to blame, then," Sam said before blocking a blow that Kai had aimed for her right flank.

"It's the day after the Final Battle, and you two are training? I didn't know that you two were that fast of recoveries." Jen limped onto the warm wooden planks hopped on her left foot, her right leg in a splint and her left arm in a sling. Out of all of us, she had suffered the worst, and the bruises, deep gashes, a concussion (thankfully, it was not severe), and broken bones proved it. Jordan, Josh, and Rachel followed her.

"I am so stiff and sore like you wouldn't believe," Jordan grumbled as she hobbled over to a cargo box and flopped down on it. She rubbed her left upper arm from where she had been stabbed by a poisoned blade, grimacing.

"I never want to repeat something like that ever again," Rachel said, her left hand pressed against the bandage that wrapped around her head. Her skull had cracked open from a flying brick, knocking her out.

"At least _you_ didn't almost have your spine broken," Josh pointed out. "And a ripped hamstring."

"But _you_ weren't turned into nothing but broken bones and blood," Jen snapped at him. Next to me, Emily rubbed her temples, her eyes half-closed.

"We can compare what we suffered from the Final Battle tomorrow, not today," the Kunoichi of Storm and Chaos said, "and I've got a whopper headache like you guys wouldn't believe it, but I think that might be the side effects of that Dark Matter stuff."

My head also ached, like I was hit with a fifty pound dumbbell, so I naturally agreed with her.

"If I never see a war like that ever again, it'll be too soon," Jay announced as he walked normally onto the deck.

"You lucky duck," his twin sister told him.

"How am I lucky?" he asked her.

"You escaped with only scratches and bruises, while the rest of us were practically beaten to pulp."

"Hey!" Sparky protested, "I got hit as much as you guys did." Emily snorted, clearly unconvinced.

"If that statement is true, then tell me this: then why do you have an ugly scar running down the right side of your face. It matches the mark that was splitting your eyebrow in half perfectly." Jay looked lost for words. "My point exactly."

Lloyd finally appeared on the deck, followed by Zane. His falcon was perched on his right shoulder, beady black eyes scanning us.

"Zane, after all these years, your falcon still doesn't have a name," Jen said, going over to him. Zane gently lifted the falcon off his shoulder and held him.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Zane challenged.

"Jaidon?" Jen suggested. "Syber?"

The falcon cried on the last one.

"Syber?" Zane checked. The falcon nodded his approval. "Syber it is, then."

"I think Syber is a fine name," Emily said.

"Off you go then, Syber." Zane lifted his hand, and Syber stretched his wings before taking off.

Syber spiraled against the blue sky before disappearing from view.

"So," Kai said after a while, "the Serphantine are finally gone, the skeletons won't be showing their bony faces again, the Stone Army is under control thanks to Darreth, and now the Overlord is gone thanks to Lloyd. Now what?"

I shrugged, along with the others.

"I'm surprised none of us got killed after all we've been through these last few years," Nya said.

"Hey, we're experienced fighters," I replied. Nya snorted.

"I know _that_ part," she retorted, "but you've got to look at it from _my_ perspective. I never got to be in the thick, while some of you"-she glared at her brother and boyfriend-"acted like idiots. And then you wonder why you always got so marked up so badly."

Kai suddenly looked interested in the wooden planks of the deck, while Jay rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Both their faces were flushed. Nya stabbed them both with a single dagger and a single hit. _Dang,_ I thought.

"So," Jen said, breaking the slightly awkward silence, "now what? I don't know about you guys, but it feels weird, just standing here doing nothing."

"Yeah," Em agreed with the Water Kunoichi. "I'd usually be too busy training right now on a normal day."

"It's the day after the Final Battle, and you took almost as much as Jen did. You are in no condition to train, even if you wanted to," I scolded her. She scowled at me.

"I'm twenty, Cole, and you know you can't force me to stop training," she snapped, "but I said on a _normal_ day. Did you temporarily fall asleep whenever I said that?"

Now it was _my_ turn to scowl. I opened my mouth to make a retort, but something black suddenly fell out of the sky and landed on the deck with a loud _thump!_

Syber hopped to his feet and shook his feathers. He turned around and stared towards the edge of the forest. Confused, Zane knelt down next to him and gently placed his hand on his falcon's back. Syber continued to stare, not acknowledging his owner.

Zane opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly the wind started to blow hard. The trees in the Forest of Tranquility started to sway side to side, the leaves rustling and shaking like crazy. And then, as fast as the wind had come up, it died down.

"This does not compute," Zane said, standing up. Syber flew onto his shoulder. A dark figure suddenly emerged and began walking towards the _Bounty_.

"Is anyone else creeped out by what just happened?" Emily asked no one in particular. At a single glance out of the corner of my eye, I easily recognized her position. After being near her for a little more than seven years, it was easy to see that she was ready to fight just in case.

As the figure continued to approach us, I made out random details, some of which I found just a teensy, little drop disturbing. Three bands of metal wrapping around the right side of the head, attaching to a fourth, smaller metal band the circled the right eye, which had three red dots in the middle of it; a poison purple sash going around both shoulders and tying in the front at the waist; a red left eye with an equally red eyebrow; and other things. A pure platinum sword hilt emerged from behind the left shoulder. I gulped nervously, trying to let the others see how nervous I was about this newcomer.

"Would you happen to be the Ninjas and Kunoichi?" the mysterious person asked in a slightly metallic voice. I forced my nervousness and anxiety down.

"Yes," I replied cautiously. "Who are you, I might ask."

"Kryptor," was the reply. "I am a weary traveler passing through the area, but I have no money to spend for a hotel. Please, could I spend the night? I have been wandering through the Forest of Tranquility for many days and nights."

Okay, I don't know if his red eye(s) made me feel this way, or the way he asked, but I had this sick, unsettling feeling stirring in my gut. I've felt it before, but not as strong as this. Nonetheless, I replied.

"Sure," I said. "Zane," I called over my shoulder, "show our guest to his room, please, and then go fix dinner." _If I wasn't such a terrible cook, then _I_ would make dinner tonight,_ I thought as I stepped out of Kryptor's way. He walked by me, and only then did I realize that the three metal bands were attached to a hood similar to ours.

Everyone else did their best to look casual as our creepy guest walked past them, but they watched him as he followed Zane down the hallway. Everyone sighed at the same time once the two had left.

"What are you thinking?" Emily's question caught me slightly off guard.

"It's not what I'm thinking," I said as I looked down the empty hallway, "it's what my gut is telling me. Its saying, 'Don't trust him.' I've felt that feeling before, but this is stronger than it has been. I don't know what, I don't know how, but I feel that something bad will happen. And it will be all because of him."

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**So, there ya go. A cliffhanger, and a little introduction to the characters.**

**Well? Interesting? Tell me what you think in the reviews! My goal is to at least get a minimum of 25 positive reviews, for starters.**

**Okay, before I continue on, these are the couple pairings (you might have already noticed some):**

**1) ColexEmily**

**2) JayxNya (duh)**

**3) KaixSam**

**4) ZanexJen**

**5) RachelxLloyd**

**6) JordanxJosh**

**Remember to review, and have a good day/night, and have a good week.**

**(P.S. Once I start getting on a roll, I will post about three or four times a week (if I'm lucky, even five!) So, yeah.)**


	3. Chapter 2

**I do hope that your Monday was much better than mine, because it was terrible. Not going into details.**

**A quick thank you to all the reviews and to the people who take time to read.**

**Now, read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago**

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(Zane's POV)

An unusual feeling made me shiver, although I forced myself not to show it.

"You have a very nice home," Kryptor said after a matter of eerie silence.

"Thank you," I replied, "we just rebuilt the _Destiny's Bounty_ yesterday. It was destroyed on the Dark Island, but we managed to salvage the larger pieces that was not in too much of a damaged condition. We brought them back here to be fixed, and now, we have a completely updated home."

"I see." Kryptor was once again silent. Syber was still perched on my shoulder. I could feel tension and uneasiness cause his talons, which were hooked firmly in my shirt, to quiver slightly. Everyone on the deck was nervous whenever Kryptor had made an appearance, all waiting anxiously for something to happen.

"Here is where you will be staying," I finally said, pushing open a door. There wasn't much in it; just a single twin-sized bed, a simple maple dresser, a nightstand, and a lamp.

Kryptor walked in and scanned the room. I slowly backed out of the room.

"I will be in the kitchen, which is to your right, the third door down on the left, if you need anything," I blurted out before I could stop myself. Kryptor nodded, his back towards me. Once I was in the hallway, I turned and started running for the kitchen.

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(Jay's POV)

"I don't know about you guys, but that Kryptor guy scares me," I admitted.

"He scares me worse than the Overlord!" Jordan said.

"I thought you never got scared," Rachel asked, clearly confused. Jordan immediately turned a light pink.

"Well, Death isn't always fearless!" She tried to defend herself. Josh snorted.

"Is the great and mighty Jordan Lee Valdez admitting that she's afraid?" he taunted her. The pink in the named female's face turned to red with anger.

"Afraid? I'm not afraid. The guy just gives me the willies," she added, looking away.

"Dinner is ready!" Zane called from the kitchen. A delicious smell wafted onto the deck. It smelled _so_ delicious that my stomach let out a noise that sounded like a mixture of the Ultra Dragon with indigestion and a dying whale. Everyone's heads turned and looked at me with _Seriously, dude?_ written all over their faces.

"Jay, go fetch our guest," Cole ordered.

"Why me?" I whined.

"Hang on," my younger twin sister interrupted before Cole could make a withering retort, "before you two get into a full-blown war with each other, _I'll_ go get him. _Don't_ argue," she added fiercely, her right pointer finger directly under the Italian's chin as she glared deep into his eyes. Cole put his hands up in surrender and said, "Go right ahead."

Emily whirled around before walking down the hallway. She walked until she was almost towards the kitchen before stopping. She knocked on a closed door, and it suddenly opened. Light poured into the hallway, and the shadow of Kryptor was in the center of the patch. I saw Emily and he have a quick exchange of words before the door closed and Emily disappeared into the dining room. Confused, I led the way down the hallway towards the dining room.

"Why isn't he coming?" Rachel asked, confused.

He said he wasn't hungry," Emily replied around a mouthful of mashed potatoes. I formed a pile of potatoes on my plate, along with peas, tender chunks of chicken, and gravy. I put two peas on my mashed potatoes, adding a little force to get them to stay before adding five more. I then put two small thin strips of chicken over the first two peas.

"Nice creation," Kai said, smirking, as he took a bite of chicken. I frowned in his direction, my face matching the one in my potatoes.

"Shut up, Kai," I snapped at him before plunging my fork into the white creamy pile of carbs, destroying my frowny face.

Across the way, Nya rolled her eyes. I couldn't tell if she was rolling her eyes at me or at her brother, but she could have been rolling her eyes at _both_ of us. I don't know.

"So," Jen said as she started to carve something out of her potatoes, "now what? Since we have no other enemies to defeat, what should we do? Disband and go our separate ways, or stick together?"

"You miss going to the swimming competitions, don't you?" Lloyd asked the Water Kunoichi.

"Yes, I do," she admitted.

"I miss mountain climbing," Cole said wistfully.

"Well _I_ don't miss my old life." Emily put both hands behind her head.

"You never told us _why_ you ran away, after all these years of being together," Sam pointed out.

"Maybe my previous life lives in the past, thus should be treated as the past?" Emily challenged her. Sam looked lost for words. "Anyways, you couldn't do anything about it even if you wanted to, so don't bother about trying to figure it out. But I won't tell what it is."

"Hey, I made a promise," I said whenever everyone turned their heads to look at me. "And I never break my promises. So don't expect me to be blurting out my sister's secret. I'm the only one she told. Not even Mom and Dad know the true reason, so don't bother calling them."

"I have never seen a set of twins so loyal to each other," an eerie, slightly metallic voice said. Everyone jumped, including Syber. He let out a startled cry, causing Zane's hand to fly up to his shoulder, gently caressing Syber's back, soothing him.

Kryptor emerged, and Cole, Zane, Kai, Lloyd, Josh, Emily, Jen, Sam, Nya, Rachel, Jordan, and I automatically assumed casual expressions and positions, looking like the guy didn't scare us.

"It's a special bond that we have," Emily replied coolly. "And plus, whenever you're stuck with your sibling on the same team that continuously has to save Ninjago, you _do_ have to be loyal to them, or suffer the consequences. Which would not be good," she added after a moment of thought, "for us and for all of Ninjago."

Kryptor thought for a moment before nodding.

"That makes sense," he said slowly, looking at my sister. She met his gaze evenly, holding it until he looked away. Cole rolled his eyes. Kryptor lingered for a few more moments before leaving, but not without looking at Zane with an interested gleam in his red eyes. Zane's eyes flickered so fast that I would have missed it, if he hadn't suddenly curled both hands into fists that were resting on his knees.

"I don't know about you guys," Kai said, his almond brown eyes narrowed chips, "but I don't like him."

I couldn't help but agree with him.

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**Okay, so our favorite nindroid wasn't harmed, but yes, he was creeped out by Kryptor, as is everyone else. It's pretty clear that everyone doesn't like Kryptor, if my point didn't get through to you earlier.  
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**I'm working on the 3rd chapter, yet it still has a little ways to go.**

**Have a good day/night!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello, everybody! I've got a few things to say before you guys read.**

**1.) Monday1113, yes, I know. I was planning on using my OCs whenever I started _Zane's Fate_. The reason why they are featured will come later, so be patient.  
**

**2.) Thank you all for all the reviews, and taking the time to read**

**and then finally,**

**3.) Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago**

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(Syber's POV)

Zane's shoulder muscles tensed underneath the material of his shirt. I hooked my talons even further into his shirt as he suddenly shot to his feet. I flapped my wings, trying to keep my balance from the sudden movement.

"Syber," Zane said quietly once he had left the dining room and was now in the room that he shared with the other males. "I have a mission for you."

I flew off his shoulder and onto the bar that Jay had set up for me. I looked at my master, my head slightly cocked to the left, waiting for my instructions.

"Watch Kryptor, even whenever he is not here on the _Bounty_," Zane said, "report anything that seems suspicious."

I nodded once, screeching, before flapping my wings. I rose into the air before flying out the door and into the blue, open space that encased the _Bounty_. I banked a sharp turn to the left and shot towards the ground.

A few feet away from the ground, I snapped out my wings, pulling up sharply right before I crash-landed. I let out a cry before soaring back up towards the sky, hoping that I could snag a mouse, or something. Hey, Zane didn't say anything about not having some fun and some hunting while I was on my mission. Besides, I had a feeling that this was going to take a while. Not to mention, he didn't feed me yet.

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(Sam's POV)

"Jay!" my boyfriend yelled at Sparky as they battled whatever they were supposed to in the video game that the two had decided on, along with the help of the other younger males and a Death Kunoichi.

"Hey, it was Cole's fault," Jay retorted, "quit blaming it on me. Why do you always blame it on me? It's either about the plans, or the video games, or…"

"Shut up, Jay!" Cole, Kai, Lloyd, Josh, and Jordan screamed at him, their eyes glued to the screen. Zane didn't scream, although the way that he threw an icy glare in the Lightning Ninja's direction explained it all. Either way, they were all mad at him.

I walked down the hallway into the kitchen. I was feeling hungry for a late-night snack whenever the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. I whirled around, my skirt flaring around my legs.

"Kryptor," I said, my voice an interesting mixture of a strangled dolphin, a dying whale, Jay inhaling helium as a three-year-old kid, and the Ultra Dragon trying to sing opera.

"I apologize for my appearance, but I was in an accident," he said, his voice as strong as Cole's compared to mine. A knife was lying on a cutting board that had some juice on it, along with some apple slivers. I slid my hand over to the knife and grasped the handle firmly.

"You and the others don't trust me, do you?" Kryptor asked me, his voice still calm and cool. I didn't really want to answer that, so I said nothing.

"Not a lot of people do, but after the years after the accident, I've become accustomed to it. But remember, Lava Master"-I shivered at one of my many titles-"do not judge a book by its cover," he whispered, leaning so close that I could make out faint little scars next to his eyes. I swallowed, forcing myself not to show my uneasiness. He looked hard into my eyes, and I made myself meet his gaze evenly. After a few moments of awkwardly staring at each other, he turned and left.

I tightened my grip on the knife as his words echoed in my ears. _Do not judge a book by its cover._ Some small fragment of my brain said, _I know._ But another part countered by saying: _There is deep meaning to what he said. Just wait; and you will figure this out._

By the First Spinjitzu Master, I hope I don't have to wait for long.

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**Since the falcon doesn't get a POV in every single fanfic (except for one) that I've read, I decided to give him one. So, Zane is having Syber spy on Kryptor. *clucks tongue* Risky, Zane. The most levelheaded (not a pun on his hair) ninja is sending his robotic companion to _spy_ on their guest? Wow. So, yeah.**

**What do you think about it so far? Tell me in da reviews, please!**

**And so, with that said, review, and have a good day/night.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Sorry for not updating for a while, guys. But I was occupied by my sis coming home from college this weekend, topped with some writer's block.**

**As always, thanks for the reviews.**

**DeepDisappointed, let me just say a few things about your review.**

**First, you obviously have no appreciation whatsoever for someone's imagination to say that. I _know_ Jay's parents say nothing about the possibility of him having a twin sister, but hence why there is something called _fanfiction_. Secondly, I just may come out with a story that doesn't have my OCs in it, but it's _my_ story, so I can choose who I want to be in it. And finally, you've given me an idea for the ending.  
**

**And I'd like to say thanks to MasterDerp5885 for supporting me. Keep it up!  
**

**Finally, my favorite part-Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago**

**Warning: There's some romance stuff, so you've been warned... *looks at MasterDerp5885 over black sunglasses*  
**

**(P.S.: I guess I forgot to mention this, but they're human. The Ninja and everyone else, minus the Serphantine [they're still half-snake half-human hybrids], are humans. Not LEGOs. Actual people. If my point got through, great. If not, well, you'll figure it out soon enough)**

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(Emily's POV)

I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. My body ached from when I had been slammed repeatedly by Stone Army warriors. I honestly thought that I would break every bone in my body, until Cole and Kai managed to fish me out of the massive pile of living stone. Groaning softly, I rolled onto my right side, facing the wall. I closed my eyes, wanting sleep to overcome me and drag me out of reality.

Sleep eventually came, but it was filled with nightmares. One was Cole and me, locked in a fight to the death. Another was that the Great Devourer had somehow come back to life, and that everyone was bitten. It was nightmare, after nightmare, after nightmare…

"Emily! Wake up!" Someone yelled in my ear, followed by being whacked hard with a pillow. My eyes flew open as I flailed about in my sheets. I ended up getting myself tied up in my sheets, so I probably looked like a fish. I did some more wriggling, and managed to untangle myself.

"The Great Devourer had better come back"-just like my nightmare-"or the Overlord had better be chasing you, admitting that he loves you. Other than that, you had better have a good reason for waking me up whenever I really need that sleep!" I snapped.

"How about your boyfriend wants to talk to you about important matters?" Cole suggested. I somehow managed to free a hand, which I held out, feeling for his face. Whenever I felt a sturdy nose, I pulled my hand back, curled it into a fist, and then brought it forward with all the strength I could muster, my sore body screaming in protest. A hand, larger than mine from holding a massive and heavy golden scythe for years, met my fist, saving his handsome face from becoming an ugly shape. His fingers curled around mine, and he gently lowered my hand.

"Now _you_ had better have a good reason for trying to punch my nose," the Earth Elementalist said. He suddenly put a lot of pressure into his grip. All five of my fingers made massive cracks as my knuckles popped. I pulled my hand out of his so I could massage my now-sore knuckles.

"I'm sorry," I began, "but I really need my sleep."

"So do I, but we need to talk." Whenever your boyfriend says, 'We need to talk,' in the middle of the night, it's sorta scary line. Grumbling under my breath, I pushed back my covers and slid to the floor. But instead of sliding to the floor, I instead slid into Cole's very muscular arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck, looking at him, even though he couldn't see me.

"I figured you might be a little sore from the beating you took from the Stone Warriors," he said as he started walking towards the door. I rested my head over his upper left chest, my right ear directly above his heart. I could hear it beating through the thick layer of muscle that he built up over the course of the years. He smelled of earthy stuff, and also the body wash that he used.

"So, why did you wake me up in the middle of the night?" I asked Cole. He didn't answer immediately, but his heartbeat, which had been a constant and steady _thump-thump, thump-thump_, it was now beating at such a fast pace that I was surprised that my ear wasn't falling off.

"Why are you scared?" I quietly asked him. The muscles in his arms suddenly tensed, causing him to flex by accident. "And _don't_ say that you're scared of Kryptor."

"I wasn't going to," Cole replied, his voice a little strangled. I twisted so that I stood on my feet. I tilted my head up to look at him straight in the eye. Fortunately, the door that we were standing next to was open. The moon, big and swollen with crystal clear, soft, gentle silver light that it was shedding, was in full view of the window. Faint, thin streaks of strawberry pink and luscious purple were just beginning to show, a clear sign that the sun would soon be rising.

The dim lighting made Cole's cheekbones look sharp and angular, causing his cheeks to look hollow. Circular shadows encircled his eyes, which were bottomless pit black, with deep, rich mud brown and bold, deep evergreen green swirls and streaks, dappling the black background in his irises. His bangs were just beginning to cover his eyelids, which caused me to reach up and brush them off to the side. His eyes flickered to my fingertips before returning to my eyes. I slid my hand down his cheek, down the side of his neck, and slowly traveled down to his chest. My hand stopped directly above his heart, which was still beating like the Great Devourer and the Overlord were both chasing us. Unfortunately, we've been through that.

"So, why are you scared?" I gently pressed the Black Ninja. He swallowed nervously.

"I'm not scared of anything," he finally admitted, "the guys and me were talking about Kryptor, and how each of us didn't like him. Zane, being the most logical out of all of us, finally said that until he has left the _Bounty_, that you girls wouldn't go unprotected by one of us. We know you girls can take care of yourselves," Cole added quickly whenever I opened my mouth to say something, "but we decided that you girls are to be under the eye of either myself, or one of the guys. But, knowing you," he said, looking at me sheepishly, "I told the guys that I wouldn't make any confirmed decisions until I talked to you about it. Kai _did_ bring up the point about how no new decisions should be made until consulted with the senior ninja. Even Zane couldn't find fault with it."

I thought about it for a while. If Zane believed that we needed protection, then he truly believed that we could be in trouble. Yet, if Cole was asking my permission to be guarded by him or by one of the others, then that meant that he doubted the fact that Jen, Sam, Nya, Jordan, Rachel, and myself could take care of ourselves. However, as strong as the girls and I are, we would have a hard time trying to protect Jen while defending ourselves from our attackers. After a few more moments of thought, I gave Cole my answer.

"Fine," I said, "but I'm warning you. If this plan backfires, I have you and the others to blame it on, because it was _you_ that came up with it. Got that?"

"Yes," he replied. He kissed my forehead before looking back into my eyes. A sudden stripe of bright, orange-yellow cut the darkness, driving the nighttime haunts away. We looked out the window before glancing at each other. Smiling, Cole reached down, scooped me up in his arms, and raced towards the deck. I threw my arms around his neck, my fingers playing with stray strands of night black, thick hair.

Once on the deck, he set me down. Together, the two of us stood side by side, holding hands, watching the sun come up.

The sky was a light periwinkle blue next to the sun, but gradually grew darker towards the other side, where stars were still twinkling.

On the periwinkle colored part of the sky, bold streaks of cotton candy pink, rich luscious purple, strawberry red, pale orange, and creamy gold splattered the open blue canvas. One the other side of the sky, it was colored a deep twilight blue, but faint strips of the brighter, warmer colors tainted the now unmarked dark blue sky.

The sun slowly rose up over the mountain range in the far east, the light glinting off the three highest mountain tips. The Golden Peaks, the supply of the gold for our Elemental Weapons. Unfortunately for Cole, Zane, Jay, and Kai, their weapons were forged into the MegaWeapon, so their Golden Weapons don't exist anymore, but Jordan, Josh, Jen, Sam, Rachel, and me? Our Golden Weapons still exist, because they were (and still are) considered minor elements compared to Earth, Ice, Fire, and Lightning. But, who cares if some elements are considered minor or major? An element is an element, right? But ever since we got our Elemental Blades, we've stopped using our Golden Weapons for the most part.

"So," Cole said after a matter of silent moments, "now what are we planning to do?"

"I honestly have no idea," I admitted, "except maybe sketching for me. I don't know! I've run out of ideas for sketching, too, so now I've honestly no idea. On a normal basis, I would be training right now, but since the Final Battle, Zane's declared that no one will be in the shape for training any time soon. Unless you just happen to heal unnaturally quickly," I added after a moment of thought.

"You've got a point. But Zane didn't rule out light excises," Cole said, looking mischievous. I rolled my eyes, but I secretly admitted to myself that the Italian had a point. Besides, Cole and I hadn't been hit too terribly hard, and also some light yoga would release the tension that still lingered in huge amounts, woven very tightly in between our muscle tendons.

Within a few minutes, we were both stretching.

* * *

"You are insanely flexible," Cole said, gawking at me. I had managed to twist myself into a knot. I grinned at him, looking mischievous.

"It just takes a lot of training," I replied, untangling myself with ease and standing with fluid grace. I had grown a few inches, so now I was eye level with Cole's nose, which was slightly surprising, because I originally came up to his chin, no further, no less. Even when we were in our young teens, I was still as tall as chin.

"You've grown," he commented. I batted my eyelashes at him, and he rolled his eyes, his mouth suddenly formed into an interestingly weird shape. He was obviously trying hard to hide a grin.

"So have you," I replied, squeezing the muscles that bulged from underneath his sleeves. They rippled and contracted to form hard half-circles, indicating that he had flexed. I forced down a girlish giggle as they relaxed before tightening again. "Okay, stop it. You're going to make me start fangirling all over you, and we both know how _that_ ends."

"Then stop squeezing my biceps," he suggested.

"When _you_ stop flexing," I retorted. His muscles contracted once more, and I slapped his chest. "You _really_ do know how to make a woman fall for you, Mister Muscles."

"And _you_ know how to make a man do whatever you command him to do," Cole shot at me. I pretended to look offended.

"You offend me," I said dramatically, "and for that, I shall leave you, never to return." I stuck my nose haughtily in the air before walking past him. His arm suddenly snapped out, grabbing my waist.

"I wasn't finished yet," Cole said, dragging me back towards him. I struggled to break his grip on my waist, but it was too strong. Before I knew it, I was pressed hard against his muscular form. I glared at him, but he didn't seem fazed by the threatening light in my eyes. Then again, I guess no one would be fazed if they had been living under the same roof as me for the past roughly seven years.

"Spit it out," I growled. "It's my turn to make breakfast."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Cole replied mildly. I gave him a questioning look, but he suddenly swooped down, gently pressing his mouth to mine. I immediately relaxed, my eyes closing, my hands slowly sliding up his neck to the back of his head. Thick locks met my fingers. I buried my fingers in his hair.

Cole's arms slid around my waist, locking firmly around me, before gently pulling me closer to him. I was pressed so close against him that I could feel the creases of his abs, his heartbeat (which was beating solidly), and the rumbling of his empty stomach.

We eventually were forced to pull away due to the lack of air. A loud, enormous rumble came from underneath the solid layer Cole's abdominal muscles.

"Sounds like you've got an appetite," I teased him as I started to walk inside.

"Hey!" Cole protested, following me. I giggled, breaking into a light sprint. Heavy footfalls echoed behind me. I laughed, pouring speed into my run. Faster and even heavier footsteps told me that Cole was trying to swallow up the distance that I left behind, but I simply ducked into the kitchen. He skidded to a halt, caught off guard by my sudden turn.

"Wanna help me?" I asked him sweetly as I pulled out a carton of eggs. Cole brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"First, you have to tell me what you're making," he said, leaning on the counter, looking at me.

"Waffles."

Without saying a word, Cole started to get out the mixer and waffle griddle, leaving me to get the ingredients.

* * *

(Jen's POV)

"This is the best batch of waffles you have ever made, Sis," Jay said around a mouthful of syrupy waffle. His cheeks were puffed out, his mouth filled with waffles. I'm surprised he could manage to talk. Then again, whenever it comes to talking, Jay Walker holds the record in all of Ninjago.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Emily chided him, "and it actually wasn't made just by me. I had help from Cole."

Jay immediately started choking on his mouthful of waffles, making disgusting noises as he forced the food out of his lungs and airways. He got it after a matter of moments, but he then spit it back out onto his plate. I gave the gasping-for-air Lightning Ninja a look of disgust.

"I'm okay!" Jay gasped, reaching for his water glass, which he drained in a few large gulps. Nya rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you should take smaller bites?" she suggested, looking at her boyfriend. Jay's face flushed to the color of overripe strawberries.

"They're just so good!" Jay protested, his face turning to a deeper red. "But...you know!" he said desperately, looking at us.

"Actually, Jay," Cole said, resting his forearms on the table, "I wasn't the one who was mixing the ingredients up. It was your sister."

"Yeah," Emily agreed with him, "he got the ingredients out, I mixed, he poured the batter, and I put them on the plates."

"Oh," was all Jay said. He looked at the half-eaten waffles that were on his plate, shrugged, and continued to stuff his mouth with waffles. _If you start choking again, don't say you weren't warned by your girlfriend,_ I thought.

* * *

**Here comes the usual question: how did you like it?**** Did I go overboard with the adjectives? If I did, sorry, but I get carried away with some things (adjectives is one of them).  
**

**Sure, nouns are fine, pronouns and verbs, can't memorize them, but adjectives? They come rolling off my tongue like water droplets rolling down a duck's glossy feathers. But _don't_ get me started on the metaphors (I'm with Cole all the way when it comes to metaphors [Rise of the Great Devourer]), similes, and all that other figurative language stuff. If I wanted to know those things, then I would ask Zane to be Language Arts teacher.**

**'Kay, well, that's all I have to say about Language Arts. **

**Remember, review (if you have _any_ negative thoughts, just watch your mouth is all I'm asking [I removed the review]), and have a good day/night!**

**Peace!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Okay. So, if you were a little squeamish about the fluffy part in the previous chapter, I'm going to give you a fair warning: all of my stories deals with romance one way or another. You have been warned...**

**I'd like to say 'Thanks' to all the reviewers, especially to MasterDerp5885. Thanks for the support, dude!  
**

**Let's see how everyone's doing now, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago**

* * *

(Kai's POV)

After breakfast, we went into the game room, minus Emily, Josh, Rachel, and Nya. Emily's still in the kitchen, cleaning up; Josh was taking a nap; Rachel was messing around with her nature element powers; and Nya was in some back room working on some new invention. Meanwhile, Cole, Jordan, Lloyd, Jay, and I were looking at each other pathetically. Life is just _sad_ whenever you don't know which video game to play.

"Play the Wii if you're that bored," Jen said, looking up from her knitting long enough to look at us before resuming.

"There's nothing good," Jay complained, "we've beaten every single video game we have, the Wii is boring, and we have no good movies to watch. On top of that, we can't train."

"We could have a tickle fight," I suggested as I pulled my shirt off slowly, looking at Sam the entire time. I pulled my red undershirt off even _slower_ than before. A deep red flush slowly crept across the Lava Kunoichi's face as she stared at my abs. She swallowed.

"I, uh, um," she stammered, "I have to go feed my fish." _Since when did you get fish?_ She turned and ran, nearly smacking into Emily.

"I agree with Kai," Cole said, looking at his girl. "We're bored, so why not have a tickle fight?" And, just as slow as me, he peeled his shirt and undershirt off. Emily eyed his abs.

"You boys are so bad," Jen said, looking up.

"Hey, doesn't every girl love a bad boy?" Cole asked seductively, topping his question off with slightly arched eyebrows and a slightly curved smile.

"Some more than others," I replied, my voice as soft as a cat's footfall. I looked at Emily. She finally snapped out of her trance, glaring at Cole.

"You love teasing me, don't you?" she shot at him. He leaned against the wall, fully exposing his perfectly sculpted chest and abs. His bangs were at a slight angle, partially covering his eyes. One knee was bent at a ninety degree angle. He spread his arms open wide as if wanting a hug. Emily's face turned a vibrant red color.

"It's quite fun, I won't lie," he replied, his voice as silky as melted dark chocolate. Emily's face exploded into a deep, embarrassed red. I saw it creeping down her neck. _Cole, I_ really _need to take some lessons from you on how to make a girl _really_ fall for you,_ I thought.

"I don't envy you," Jen said as Emily dashed out of the game room.

"Shut up!" Emily hissed at Jen, but the tone of her voice proved to me that Emily was flustered.

I gave Cole a fist bump. Man, is it _fun_ teasing girls.

* * *

(Sam's POV)

That hotheaded flirt! He teased me in front of the others. How can a guy have enough guts to do that? I don't get it.

"Emily, tell me this," I said, "why is it that we're dating the hottest guys on the team?"

"They're traps," she replied, "they're like mountain lions, waiting for their prey. Beautiful, innocent young does."

"We're the does," I mused. Emily nodded before continuing on.

"The predators lie in wait for their victims to come wandering by, ignorant to the fact that they're in front of their killer's cave. And then, the lions attack!"

Emily suddenly rolled off her bunk, landing soundlessly on the wooden floor, her muscles tense with caution. Her eyes, bright with wariness, darted back and forth as if imagining enemies.

"They spring forward, their claws unsheathed and their fangs bared." She demonstrated what she said, continuing on. "The does start to flee, but it's too late. The mountain lions have pinned the does underneath them. The does are helpless, and all they can do is wait. Wait for the long, sharp, curved white fangs to meet the neck of the doe. Wait for claws to pierce the lungs. Wait to _die_…" Emily's voice died to a low whisper, emphasizing the word 'die.' I looked at the Kunoichi of Storm and Chaos, my head tilted slightly to the right, my eyes slightly wide and blinking rapidly.

"So yeah," Emily said casually as she leaped back onto her bunk. "Cole and Kai are the mountain lions, but the two of us? We're the does who can pack a heck of a fight! They want to tease us? Fine! We'll tease them back, but _harder_. And I've got just the plan," Emily ended slyly, her mouth curving up into a smile that has always scared me. I gulped nervously.

"Should I be worried?" I asked weakly.

"You'll have to wait and see," was the response I got. _I've got a bad feeling about your plan, Emily._

* * *

**In my personal opinion, Cole and Kai really are the hottest guys on the team. Jay's just downright annoying with his high-pitched voice (although it _is_ rather cute in Child's Play), and Zane is the one who thinks about what he's going to do first about ten times, and _then_ he acts. *Thinks for a moment* On the other hand, whenever it comes to the falcon, Zane _does_ get slightly (about 0.00001%) reckless.**

**Okay, now, what do you think Emily's plan is? Do you think it will backfire, and hurt Emily's and Sam's relationships? Or will it succeed?  
**

**Have a good day/night, and I'll try to post the next chapter tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then Saturday. Have a good Friday tomorrow!**


	7. Chapter 6

**I hope you guys had a good Friday yesterday. I didn't, because I woke up with a migraine (which feels like Cole decided to hit me on my head with one of his heaviest dumbbells), and a very bad stomach ache (which was like Cole forcing a mixture of his chili and his duct chowder down my throat). It was not pretty, yet I still had to go to school. Don't you hate it whenever you feel like crap in the morning whenever you wake up, but your parents still force you to go to school? :(**

**Okay, so we left off with Kai and Cole teasing their girlfriends, and Emily coming up with a plan on how to own them. Let's go check it out, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago.**

* * *

(Cole's POV)

"Do I _have_ to?" I whined. Jordan, Jay, and Kai nodded, grinning like foxes. Groaning, I slowly walked to the girls' bathroom.

Checking to make sure no one was in there, I slid inside; readjusting the door so it looked like no one had come in. I pulled back the shower curtain and stepped inside the tub, pulling it back into place. Not believing that I lost a bet, I sat down and waited. I couldn't _wait_ until my hour was up.

Me and the others had made a bet that the one who could go the longest time without breathing would win. The loser, however, would have to sit in the bathtub of the opposite gender for an entire hour, no more no less.

About fifteen minutes later, the door opened and the light came on. Recognizing the long braid, I was praying like crazy that she wouldn't know I was there.

Emily closed the door behind her, making sure it was latched before setting down the bundle that was in her hands. _Oh, gosh, no._

She leaned forward towards the mirror, obviously checking something. She must have found a problem, because she stopped briefly before continuing on.

_It's okay,_ I mentally reassured myself, _she's just changing clothes. Or maybe not,_ I added to my horror after she had pulled her shirt off. Her fingers fumbled for a moment at her back before sliding something off. Her head turned so that she was looking towards the shower. I buried my face in my hands. She knew I was there. Something clicked in my mind. I had been tricked. Great. Just great.

The shower curtain was pulled back, forcing me to look up.

"So, Cole, how did it feel to be teased?" Emily asked as she towered over me (for once). She was wrapped in her bathrobe (thank the First Spinjitzu Master). I scrambled to my feet, my face exploding into a fiery heat.

"You…you knew I was here the whole time!" I squeaked, my voice as high-pitched as Jay's. An idle smile curled Emily's mouth.

"I planned it," she said. I felt sick.

"I was tricked," I said, my voice shaky, "what did I ever do to you?"

"Oh, let me see." She tilted her head for a few moments as if in deep thought. She suddenly straightened up. "I remember now! How about teasing me in front of the others by showing off your abs?"

An even hotter fiery heat slowly crept across my face, starting from the bridge of my nose and spreading. I pulled at the neck of my shirt, embarrassed.

"Just tell me to stop, and I will," I said. I opened my mouth to say more, but just then, the door to the bathroom swung wide open.

"Happy birthday, Muscles," Jen said, smirking. I stared at her blankly.

"Cole, you're twenty-two today," Sam added.

"I am?" I asked, bewildered and confused. Emily, Jen, and Sam all nodded.

"You ready?" Emily called over her shoulder. A few moments passed, and then there was a quick scuffle of chairs being pulled around, mutterings, and a few low-breathed curses.

"Yeah!" Kai yelled. Right after he said that, there was a loud crashing sound. "Hold on…Jay!" he screamed, "I spent _ages_ working on that! That was made of the most expensive materials. It took me _months_ to get enough money to buy those!"

"I'm sorry!" Jay wailed. The Kunoichi exchanged frustrated looks.

"Come on," Emily said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the tub. My face flushed again whenever I saw Jen and Sam give each other a fist bump, grinning.

Emily led me out of the bathroom and down the hallway towards the game room. We reached a closed door. Looking at me, she pushed it open.

"Happy birthday, Cole!" the entire team (minus Emily, Jen, Sam, and myself [duh myself]) screamed whenever I walked in. They were in a semicircle around the world's grumpiest nindroid, dressed up like a clown. He had a kazoo in his mouth which he blew into, causing it sound like a dying whale trying to sing a love song, yet failing horribly.

"Go change and wash your face," I ordered Zane. His face broke into a look of relief as he ran out the door, tripping over his large, extremely oversized shoes, which were red. They should have been white, if anything.

"Who said you could torture the poor nindroid?" Jen demanded, her sea blue eyes flaring with anger.

"It was Jay's idea!" Kai, Josh, Jordan, Nya, Lloyd, and Rachel said at the same time, pointing at the Blue Ninja.

"Hey," he protested, just as Zane reappeared.

"Whenever I agreed to become a ninja, I did not agree to become a clown," Frosty said grouchily, his eyes narrowed chips of dry ice with the faintest streak of ice blue as he glared at Jay. It became silent after that. It was so quiet that we could have heard an amoeba sneeze. It was shattered by Kai popping the lid on a can of Diet Coke. He took a loud slurp out of it, ignoring the looks that we gave him.

After the reckless hothead chugged the entire can, he let out an enormous belch, looking satisfied.

"I'm not sure about you guys," Kai said, "but whenever _I_ signed up to be a ninja, I signed up to party." And with that said, he crushed his empty aluminum can in his fist, bounced it off the top of his head a few times (and was rather successful), and tossed it into the recycling can.

"Now about starting this party?" he said. All heads turned to look at me.

"Who said that this party stopped?" I challenged him. Jay was drinking some Mountain Dew, but after I spoke, he started gagging and choking while laughing hysterically at the same time. A stream of bright, neon green-yellow liquid shot out of both nostrils, splattering all over the floor.

"Burning, burning, BURNING!" he wailed. We all broke into laughter as Jay continued to scream. Zane suddenly tensed up. I was just about to ask him what was wrong, until the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up. Slowly, Zane and I turned around, our hands slowly going for our elemental blade hilts. On a normal basis, I would have relaxed after seeing who was sneaking up on us, but whenever I saw who it was; I barely managed to stop a whimper…_barely_.

Kryptor didn't say anything. He just gave us a swift glance, the red in his eyes almost forcing the whimper out of my mouth. I bit my tongue, keeping the noise that will most definitely _not_ increase my dignity inside.

Kryptor looked at Zane. The blood drained out of the Ice Ninja's face, turning his already pale complexion to the color of powdered milk. Zane met Kryptor's gaze squarely, although I noticed that Zane's hands were curled into tight fists, shaking. Whenever Zane gets nervous, the world is coming to an end. _Nothing_ ever scares the Ninja of Ice. Except for one word, two syllables, apparently. And then, as mysteriously as he came, Kryptor vanished. A small slip of paper dropped out of nowhere. Zane picked it up, walking back towards us. Frowning, he read it. But his eyes widened in pure shock and terror. The paper fluttered out of his hand, landing on the ground as Zane staggered against the wall, sliding down it slowly. The look in his eyes was a mixture of emotions that he has _never_ shown before. Fear, terror, anxiety, horror…they were fighting each other in the wide ice blue irises of Frosty's eyes.

"What's wrong?" Jen fretted, her sea blue eyes as wide as her boyfriend's. He gave the paper a fearful look, as if it had told him that his systems would be overrun by some sort of virus that would shut him down permanently. He moistened his lips, drawing his knees up tight against his chest, wrapping his arms around them.

He said, in a voice so small and quiet that I could barely hear, even though everyone else was quiet, "Read it."

* * *

***In sing-song voice* CLIFFHANGER! And unfortunately, you guys will have to wait for a few days for the next chapter. Poor things. *Kid Lloyd's evil laugh***

**Okay, so, Zane's scared, which is a first. Kryptor is getting more creepy every time I write something about him, and I don't know _how_ that is even happening. *Slightly confused expression* If at anytime he hits 'CREEPER OVERLOAD,' just tell me in the reviews, and I'll try to make him less creepy. But where is the fun of writing a mystery if you don't have that one creepy person in your story? It takes the enjoyment of the story, right?**

**Have a good day/night, and I'll get to you guys on about Monday or Tuesday with an update. Peace!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Okay, just let me get this off my chest: IMABIGFATLIAR! I SAID WAS GONNA UPDATE MONDAY OR TUESDAY, BUT I** **DIDN'T!**** *wails***

**Okay, so now that I've said that, I'm good now. **

**I watched the Ninjago Trailer for the newest season, and this was literately my expression the entire time: O_O. If you have not seen it yet, then watch it. If you have already seen it (and it was _epic_, right?), then please note that I will not be using their awesome weapons and ninja outfits :,( Anyways, _go watch it if you haven't already!_**

**Okay (for da 3rd time), I left you guys hanging with a cliffhanger (burn!) You guys were probably screaming, shaking the computer, and other stuff whenever I ended the chapter. But, hey. What's the part of a story whenever you don't have cliffhangers, right?**

**Okay (I've got a bad habit with saying 'Okay'), now, we find out what terrified our favorite nindroid.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago**

**(Warning: Contains some [very] dark fluff later on. That part will be temporarily rated M [to be safe])**

* * *

(Jordan's POV)

Zane's breathing became labored whenever Kai picked up the small sheet of paper.

"What does it say?" he asked, bewildered. I caught a glimpse of it. I was expecting something more than just a series of numbers: 01001110 01001001 01001110 01000100 01010010 01001111 01001001 01000100. Zane looked terrified for once in his lifetime. Jay pulled the piece out of Kai's hand. After looking at it, Jay's expression turned to shock.

"How did Kryptor find out that you're a nindroid?" Jay asked the still-terrified Zane. _Its common knowledge, genius,_ I thought sourly, but I didn't say it out loud. Zane replied by giving Jay a scared look.

"Flip it over," Zane's voice shook with fear. Jay, puzzled like the rest of us, flipped it over. I peered over his shoulder.

01010100 01010010 01000001 01001001 01010100 01001111 01010010 01001111 01010101 01010011.

"What does it say?" I asked.

"_Traitorous_," Jay replied, confused.

"_Nindroid_ and _traitorous_?" Cole said, bewildered. Emily knelt down in front of Zane, her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her with a pleading look in his eyes. There was a quick, silent exchange of words between the two, and then Emily leaned in and hugged Zane. He wrapped his arms around her. I silently gagged, turning my face away. Any display of affection, even hugging, makes me uncomfortable, even after joining becoming the Death Kunoichi about three years ago. I mean, I've become slightly accustomed to seeing romance, as it practically radiates off of everyone. Except for me and my arch-element. But, it still makes me squeamish. I shivered.

"Oh, please, Jordan, gimme a break," Josh said, leaning against the opposite side of the game room. His arms, slightly muscled, were crossed over his chest. The dim lighting flattered his complexion, giving it a soft, slightly glowing bronze look. I looked at him. He unfolded his arms, holding them open. His eyes met mine, warm chocolate brown meeting pure black with flecks of pale yellow.

Rachel suddenly frowned. Lloyd enveloped his arms around her waist, looking concerned.

"Jay," Rachel began, looking at the Ninja of Lightning, "isn't that Binary code?"

Kai suddenly smacked his palm against his forehead.

"Of course!" he spat before Jay had a chance to answer. "Binary code is what programs computers and other electronics. With Zane being what he is, a nindroid, he's programmed by Binary code. It's like a second language to him."

"What is the point of only using two different numbers, zero and one, whenever the electronics company can use the other numbers as well?" Emily asked, "Wouldn't that confuse the workers?"

"Not unless they have either a code telling them which 8-numbered section a letter is, or unless they memorized the entire chart." Jay pressed both hands to his temples. "And let me just tell you, it is _hard_, trying to memorize the entire alphabet."

"Well, I can figure _that_ out just by looking at it, genius," his sister retorted, "but why, in all of Ninjago, would Zane get a hate-scrap-of-paper?"

Silence greeted her words. After about twenty seconds of awkward silence, I face-palmed.

"This is probably the first time that I ever realized something like this," I said, "but _nindroid traitorous_ doesn't sound right. But _traitorous nindroid_ does." Everyone turned their heads to look at me. I crossed my arms over my chest. Lloyd whistled.

"You were right, Jordan," he said, "That is probably the first logical and smart thing you ever said. You just might actually have a brain under that thick skull of yours."

I glared at him before looking at Zane. He was curled up into a shivering ball, his knees drawn up tight against his chest and his chin resting on his knees. He shivered like he was cold, but the room temperature was still eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit. It was the only temperature that Kai and Zane could agree on, with them being completely opposite elements.

"Who in their right mind would call Zane a traitor?" Jen demanded, her sea blue eyes blazing with fury. Leave it to Jen to make a big deal out of everything. Then again, she _is_ Water, and water never really _has_ been a calm element. Okay, I know that there are those times whenever the surface of the water is as soft and as smooth as a lazy cat's fur, but I mean, out in the middle of the ocean? We've been through some pretty violent storms whenever we were heading for the Dark Island, and I don't want to see any repeats of starteeth invasions.

Cole cleared his throat.

"Jen," he began, "we are talking about Kryptor, the one who gives us the chills just by walking past us. I don't think he's in his right mind. However," he added, "you do raise a good point. As weird as he can be sometimes, Zane will never betray us."

* * *

(Rachel's POV) **(The following content is rated M for some very dark fluff)**

While the others were too busy bickering over Kryptor, I headed for the shower, where I scrambled through a quick clean-up, gently rinsing off the dried blood that covered the area where I had been hit with a brick on my skull. I scrubbed the dead skin cells off before grabbing the razor. I turned the water off, grabbed my towel and wrapped myself up in it. After getting my shins thoroughly covered in a semi-thick sheet of shaving cream, I started shearing the long, dark hairs off. Within a few minutes, I was rinsing the unused cream off.

I dried off rapidly, the cool air gently nipping at my bare skin, causing me to shiver. I quickly changed into my soft, brown form-hugging pants that only showed part of my freshly-shaved shins, and a forest green cami with a camouflage pattern on it. I grabbed my brush and began to run it through the limp, damp, tangled clumps of brown hair.

Once it was to my satisfaction, I pulled it up into my usual high ponytail. I gathered my things, opened the door, and got a surprise.

I started to fall backwards, but he acted quickly. He sprang forward and wrapped an arm around my waist, stopping my fall. His abdomen was pressed against mine. He hovered about three inches above me, our knees touching. His emerald green eyes sparkled with their usual humorous light; his soft, light pink lips curling up into a smile. A blond fringe fell into his eyes, covering them slightly, but I think that it made him look all the cuter.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Rachel," Lloyd said, his arm still wrapped around my waist. His eyes roamed my face.

"Uh, can I stand up straight, please?" I asked politely. He quickly took a step back, pulling his arm up so that I stood up straight.

I walked past him with my things in my arms. I headed for the room that I shared with the other girls. I suddenly stopped.

"You like stalking me, don't you?" I asked him without looking over my shoulder. Arms encircled my waist, gently pulling me backwards into him. Warm lips pressed themselves to my jaw joint briefly before going to my ear.

"Maybe," Lloyd murmured, his warm breath tickling the sensitive skin of my ear. His breath smelled like peppermint, as if he had just been chewing a few candy canes. Knowing him, he probably has been. Even if it _is_ July, and no where even _close_ to Christmas. I rolled my eyes as his lips gently slid down to the back of my neck. I rolled my shoulders back, forcing his head to break contact. I pried his arms off me, somehow managing to keep the bundle of dirty clothes that was still in my hands.

I opened the door to the room and dropped my stuff on my bed, Lloyd lounging in the doorway behind me.

"So," he eventually said after a few minutes of him watching me to a few things, "what do you think of Kryptor?"

I scoffed. "Do you _really_ want to know?"

"Not really," the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master admitted. He detached himself from the door, padding over to where I was standing.

"Rachel," he began uncomfortably, a light dusting of pink emerging on the bridge of his nose and the tops of his cheeks (it's cute whenever he blushes), "I still feel like I don't know anything about you, even after being together for three years." I leaned against the wall, my arms crossed over my chest, one eyebrow slightly raised.

"I feel like _I_ don't know anything about _you_," I said. "So what's ya point?" I looked at him expectantly. The pink dusting turned a little darker. I had a hunch on what he wanted to ask me, but I let him continue.

Lloyd rolled his emerald green eyes up to stare at the ceiling before looking down at me. He stretched his arms out. At first, I thought that he wanted a hug, but then I realized that he had trapped me against the wall. I gulped.

He moved closer to me until our thighs, hips, and abdomens were touching. His hands slid across the wall to my neck. His right hand cupped my cheek, gently forcing my head up. My stomach twisted itself into knots as he moistened his lips before his head began dipping downwards.

My heart started pumping wildly as our noses gently brushed each other. Lloyd hesitated for one more moment before gently pressing his lips to mine.

I relaxed after two seconds, sliding my hands up his chest to his neck, wrapping my arms around his neck. Silky strands of hair met the pads of my gently stroking fingers.

Lloyd's hands slid down to my waist, locking firmly around me. My lungs started to burn due to lack of oxygen, and I pulled away from him, breathless. We looked at each other briefly, my chest rising and falling rapidly, trying to recover my breath. After a few more moments, Lloyd brought his lips to mine again.

I could feel the fast, rapid beating of his heart through the thin material of our shirts. This was as new to him as it was to me. Okay, I've no idea _what_ came over me, but I wanted to see his abs so _badly_. Luckily for me, his shirt was a green (naturally) button-down shirt.

My hands slid down his chest to the first button. Almost as if they had a mind of their own, my fingers started to unfasten his shirt.

Lloyd's eyes flew open, wide with shock, but I looked at him with half-closed eyes, looking at him through my thick eyelashes, making myself have an undeniably dreamy and sexy look. His eyes closed once more, and I continued to unfasten his shirt. Soon his shirt was unbuttoned. He was wearing a green (once again, naturally) undershirt that hugged his form perfectly. He pulled his arms off my waist just long enough to shed his both shirts. Whenever he pulled me against him again, warmth radiated off his bare chest without any bonds. I shivered. The cold wall was pressed against the bare skin of my shoulders while warmth flowed off Lloyd.

Lloyd scooped me up in his arms and carried me to my bed, where he set me down gently. He settled himself down next to me, our ankles intertwining. The hem of my cami had ridden up a little, and his hands were on my exposed skin, causing me to shiver.

After a few more minutes, he propped himself up on his left elbow, staring dreamily down at me. His right hand was on my cheek. I snuggled closer against him.

"For making out for the first time, do you think we kinda overdid it?" he wondered. I smiled up at him.

"Maybe," I said before pressing my lips to his.

* * *

**...**

**I don't have much to say except for:**

**1) Zane got burned majorly from Kryptor's Binary code hate-note**

**2) Was the ending very fluffy? I have a habit for doing fluffy stuff. Hey, I _did_ say that it was going to be dark fluff. Well, at least according to some of my _I-Hate-Fluffy-Stuff_ friends ;)**

**3) I'm going to start on Chapter 8 ASAP, and it probably will not be done by Monday  
**

**and finally,**

**4) Have a good day/night, and peace!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Happy Wednesday, everybody! I was in such a good mood that I finished this chapter! Yay!**

**ForeverDream12, yeah, it was alright if you skipped the last part. I don't even know _why_ I even added that. I was obviously bored and in a romantic mood...but yeah, it was fine if you skipped it. It wasn't important anyways.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago**

* * *

(Kai's POV)

Lloyd stumbled out of the Kunoichis's room. His shirt was buttoned lopsidedly, and his hair was messed up. He stumbled into the walls, staggering back and forth. I couldn't help but wonder, _Is he drunk?_

"Hey, Lloyd, are you drunk?" I voiced my thoughts. He looked at me, his emerald green eyes sliding in and out of focus.

"No," he slurred, taking a few more unsteady steps forward.

"Dude, did you somehow manage to break into Zane's cabinet where he stores the different types of wine for cooking with?"

Lloyd shook his head, almost loosing his balance and face-planting into the floor. I leaped forward, wrapping my arms securely around his waist. I started dragging him back to the room that I shared with the other guys. I slammed my foot hard against the door three times.

"Enter," Cole said lazily. I hissed through my teeth.

"I'm carrying a drunk Ultimate Spinjitzu Master," I yelled.

"I is not drunk," Lloyd protested, slumping further against me. I staggered backwards, air hissing through my tightly clenched teeth. Just then, the door opened, revealing a shirtless Cole and a grease-stained Jay. They looked at me, looked at the sagging Lloyd, and then back to me. Cole arched a bushy eyebrow at me while Jay bit down on his lip, trying to smother a smile, yet failing horribly.

"He's not getting any lighter," I wheezed, "I think he magically gained thirty pounds." I squawked as Lloyd slipped to the ground in my arms, dragging me down with him. Jay started laughing his head off. Cole rolled his eyes while Josh and Zane were peering over Cole's broad shoulders, obviously interested in what Jay was laughing about.

"Help!" I croaked from underneath Lloyd. Cole just towered over me, a smirk on his mouth, his arms crossed over his chest.

After accepting the fact that I was going to have to figure this out on my own, I grasped Lloyd's shoulders, lifting his chest off mine. I slid one knee under his stomach, raising it up enough for me to be able to slide my hips out from underneath him. Once I had managed that part, I pushed Lloyd away from me. He flopped back onto me. Barely holding back a long stream of curses, I gritted my teeth.

"Cole," I began, the air hissing out of my teeth as I spoke, "would you care to help me with this green-clad deadweight, please?"

"Well," Cole said, pretending to consider, "since you said _please_."

He bent down and wrapped his arms around Lloyd's waist. Cole straightened up with ease, Lloyd looking like Emily in his arms. I rolled onto my stomach, pushing myself up onto my feet.

"I'm good," I said coolly, readjusting my spikes. Jay snickered, but I didn't pay him any attention as I walked past him and into the room.

"Zane, is Lloyd drunk?" Cole asked the nindroid. Zane cocked his head to the left for a few brief moments before shaking his head.

"Although, his heart rate _is_ up higher than normal," Zane said, "but that could be because he and Rachel were together."

"Yeah, we all know what happens to Lloyd whenever he's near Rachel," Josh said lazily. He was laying flat on his back, his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. His left knee was bent at a ninety degree angle while his other leg was straight.

"You should have seen the way she looked at me," Lloyd said dreamily.

"You mean with disgust?" Jay inquired. Lloyd glared emerald green daggers at the Lightning Ninja.

"No," the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master retorted. "I mean with…" He hugged himself, clearly lost for words. I exchanged glances with Jay and Cole. Okay, there was something wrong with this kid, but what…duh. I face-palmed.

"You and Rachel made out, didn't you?" I caught him off guard. Lloyd's emerald green eyes were wide with shock as he stared at me. I crossed arms over my chest, smirking.

"Lloyd and Rachel, sittin' in a tree," Jay teased him in a sing-song voice, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, second comes marriage, third comes Lloyd with the baby carriage!"

Josh started cackling with laughter as Jay grinned broadly. Cole rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, but even he couldn't help but smile. I couldn't help but grin myself. Lloyd's face immediately turned a deep, embarrassed red. He hid his head under his pillow, mumbling something to himself.

"Real mature," Zane said quietly. Josh shut up and Jay's grin fell off his face. If his mouth wasn't attached to his face, I'm pretty sure it would have fallen to the floor with a _splat_. My own smile drooped, too.

Frosty still looked shaken after receiving Kryptor's Binary Code hate-note. I honestly thought that he would short-circuit any moment now.

Cole filled his cheeks with air before pursing his lips and exhaling. His _Do-not-mess-with-me-right-now-I-am-in-deep-thought-at-the-current-time-being_ look crossed his face: his eyebrows were drawn low over his eyes, which were narrowed, and a frown. But, now that I think about it, doesn't it seem that he always frowns? Or is that just because of his genes? I honestly don't know.

"Why, in all of Ninjago, would Kryptor send Zane a hate-note? Zane has no enemies," I said. Cole scoffed.

"Unless you count all the things that we've fought over the years," he offered. I gave him with my _Seriously?_ look.

"We've either killed them all, banished them all, or we managed to convince them that we're not bloodthirsty killers who possess terrifying powers," I snapped at him, "so what's your point?" Cole looked at me, lost for words. "My point exactly," I finished my sentence.

While Cole was giving me a deer-in-the-headlights look, Lloyd suddenly sat up, whacking his head solidly on the wooden frame. Cole, Zane, Jay, Josh, and I looked at Lloyd as he rubbed his forehead.

"First things first," Lloyd said, glaring at the wood, "we _really_ need to buy some sort of foam, because one of us will get a concussion from just waking up." We looked at him. I felt my nicked eyebrow rise.

"And secondly," he continued on, still rubbing his forehead, "what if Kryptor's note isn't hateful? What if it's actually a warning?"

Josh, Zane, Cole, Jay, and I exchanged looks. The kid's got a point.

"The grasshopper's got a point," Josh said, almost as if he was reading my mind. "It _does_ make sense, right?"

"Probably about as much sense as Jordan actually saying something intelligent for once in her life," Jay randomly threw in. If only Yin was here, I'm pretty sure that Yang would be fighting his arch-element to bring Jay back from the grave.

"If Jordan was here, she probably would be hacking you to bits with her chains," Josh warned Jay, "I speak from personal experience that those chains _hurt_. Then again, with me being Yang and she being Yin…" Josh's voice died off as he continued to think about what he was saying. I gave him a questioning look.

"Never mind." Josh shook his head. "Anyways, I was just thinking about her…" A horrified look crossed his face. I exchanged gleeful glances with Cole and Jay. I wanted to _sing_ Maroon 5's 'Love Somebody'. And mind you, I've got a good voice, no matter what the others say. I never thought I would live to see the day whenever Josh _finally_ would admit his feelings for his arch-element! Jordan, look out!

"Does Jordan know?" Jay blurted out. He looked like an excited puppy. Josh scoffed.

"Of course she doesn't," he snapped, "she thinks romance is contagious." Now it was my turn to scoff.

"This is going to sound weird coming from me," I began, "but love is a beautiful thing. Yin doesn't know what she's missing out on, Yang. Besides," I added, "I like to think of you two as polar and non-polar forces; negative and positive; and my personal favorite: Jordan is, on the pH scale, a zero and you are a fourteen. For some reason, a lot of people think that the pH scale only goes up to thirteen as the highest base, but it's actually fourteen. If fourteen is the highest possible base, then that makes zero the most acidic. But what do you get whenever you combine the highest base with the lowest acid?" I looked at Josh, bouncing my eyebrows up and down twice, grinning a cocky grin. Josh looked at me with a deer-in-the-headlights look before shaking his head.

"What was that, Inferno?" he asked. My right palm met my forehead.

"I frankly don't feel like repeating what I just said," I said tartly, "but my question was: _What happens whenever you combine the highest base with the lowest acid?_"

"It becomes neutral," he answered smoothly, "Because on the pH scale, seven is the middle number: the number for neutralization." I beamed.

"Now let's go neutralize your soon-to-be girl!" Cole exclaimed with a cocky and very broad grin. Josh looked at him in alarm.

"Say what now?" But Cole had already crossed the room and dragged Life off his bunk. Josh hung on tightly. After a few minutes to no avail, Cole eventually gave up. Josh looked relieved, until Cole pounced on him. Josh let out a startled squawk, but he was brutally shoved off his bunk and onto the floor. As he scrambled to his feet, Cole slid to the ground, placing one foot firmly on Josh's back, right in between the shoulder blades.

"I still find it funny that in the Yin-Yang symbol, Yin is the color for femininity and death, while Yang stands for masculinity and life," Lloyd snickered as he looked at the grouchy-looking Life Ninja.

"It would correspond perfectly with the symbol if your color was white instead of a light red," Jay added.

"Shut up," Josh said grouchily.

* * *

(Jen's POV)

A soft knock at the door made our heads look up. Sighing, I got to my feet, hopping on one foot over to the door.

"Oh, hi Zane," I said, a little surprised. He gave me an embarrassed, yet very weak, smile. Behind him were Jay and Kai, both grinning like madmen. Whenever those two grinned like that, it usually meant that something bad was going to happen, and it would have been their fault.

"Jay and Kai came up with an idea," Zane said in a small voice. "It is technically a present for Jordan."

"Is it the X-BOX One?" Jordan appeared by my side, an eager look on her face. Zane shook his head, causing Jordan to look crestfallen with disappointment.

"It's actually from Josh," Jay said, peering over Zane's shoulder to look at her. Yin's eyebrows shot straight up so fast I thought that she would loose them in outer space.

He and Kai walked up, bearing their gift equally, obviously careful not to crush it. Jordan's right eyebrow came back down to Ninjago, although her left one stayed up in outer space.

"Open it," Kai urged, his almond brown eyes gleaming with excitement. I grew suspicious. Jordan, also suspicious, carefully unzipped the zipper that was on the front. She pulled out of the package…

"A _dress_?" Jordan said loudly with disgust.

It was made of the finest black silk with a silver dragon image stitched onto the back. Around the waist was a four-inch wide sash that was made of woven silver silk. The hem of the dress stopped about mid-shin. The top was slightly low-cut and had three-inch wide straps criss-crossing across the back, something that did not please Jordan.

"Jordan, it is _gorgeous_!" Rachel gushed, reaching a hand out to touch it.

"Anyone who wants it can have it," Jordan said snobbishly. I sighed, clenching my teeth and rolling my eyes.

"Josh had it custom-made!" Jay exclaimed, clearly desperate to save the silk dress. "I don't know how he got the measurements, but he did." Jay's big, deep blue eyes pleaded with Jordan. After a few minutes, she sighed.

"Why did he make me a dress, first of all?" she growled. Her pure black eyes were narrowed as she glared at the Lightning Ninja.

"Put it on first, and then ask him that question," Zane advised. "Jen, Rachel, Sam, you three are in charge of Jordan's makeover." I exchanged grins with the other two named Kunoichi.

"Our pleasure," Sam said. And with that, the door shut.

"So, girls," Rachel began coolly, looking at Jordan. "Who wants to have the honors of performing the first waxing?"

* * *

**Well, Kai's POV was certainly entertaining, wasn't it? **

**And about Yin-Yang and the pH scale, that's all true. (This is about Yin-Yang:) I just find it ironically hilarious about Jordan being a girl, death, and her color is black, and Josh being a guy and life, but do you think I should change his color from a light red that isn't so light that it's pink to a silvery-white? (If you think so, please say so in the reviews, or PM me. If you want me to keep his color the same, please say so in the reviews, or PM .)**

**Okay, I know I didn't really talk about Kryptor's little hate-note/warning, but I will get to that later.**

**Now, concerning a little Jordan-Josh stuff: if it isn't clear already, Jordan hates being girly-girl (hence her reaction to the dress). I wont' go into much detail, so you'll just have to wait, although I do have a question: What do you think will happen in the next chapter containing 1) Zane, and 2) Jordan and Josh? Tell me in the reviews!**

**And until next time, peace, have a good rest of the week, and have a good day/night!**

**(P.S.: I dare you guys to listen to Caramelldansen. It's a very good song, very catchy, and I have a feeling that if Jay was listening it to it, he would be bouncing around the entire _Bounty._ I'm serious, it is that peppy. If you've heard it, it's catchy, isn't it? If you haven't already listened to it, do so. The reason why I bring this up is because I wrote practically the entire chapter while listening to it. And I'm doing the 10 hour version. But you don't have to listen to it if you don't want to.) ;)**


	10. Chapter 9

**How's it going, guys? Hope you had a good week, and a good Friday the Thirteenth. **

**Thanks for the support, it means a lot.  
**

**Okay, I know the first episode doesn't officially come out until the eighteenth, but I already saw the first ten minutes of it. And let me tell you, I was dying from laughter because of the three minutes of it. I don't think I'm ever going to get over it. When it comes out, you will see why.  
**

**Anyways, let's see how Jordan will react to her present.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago.**

* * *

(Rachel's POV)

I pulled out the jar of waxing cream, a grin crossing my face. Jordan looked horrified as I opened it up, struggling fruitlessly against the multiple layers of duct tape and chains that bound her to the chair.

"Geez, Jordan, when was the last time that you shaved your legs?" Emily asked her, peering over the tops of her silver glasses.

"Why should you know?" Jordan snapped.

"Because your legs are almost as hairy as Cole's head," the Storm Kunoichi retorted.

"This will hurt," I warned the struggling Death Kunoichi as I spread the cream over a small section of her legs.  
"Don't," Jordan pleaded, but it was too late. I had already pressed the plastic waxing strip firmly against the creamed area.

"Three, two, one." On one, I ripped the strip off. Jordan wailed in pain while I looked at the strip in disgust and amazement. It was covered in long, silky black hairs. I then turned my attention to the single stripe of bare skin. It made me think of Cole with a single, long bald stripe wrapping around his head. Sam gave a low whistle.

"We may have to take her in to the spa," she said. Jen, Emily, Nya, and I nodded.

"Jordan," Nya began coolly, "you're going to get the best relaxation therapy in all of Ninjago. They're professionals at this kind of stuff."

Emily whipped out her cell phone, dialed a number, and then waited for a few seconds.

"Hi, Jewel," she said, "yeah, I'm doing fine. But listen, I have to help one of my friends get ready for a date, but she is in _major_ need for your ultra-deluxe-supreme. Do _everything_ that you've got for her. How long will it take? Three to four hours? That's not bad. And how much will it cost? Really? It's on the house? Awesome. We'll be there in a few minutes. Thanks, Ju!" Emily hung up.

"Ladies," she began, "we've got an appointment that begins in five minutes. We might want to hurry up."

With that said, we immediately to scramble.

* * *

(Emily's POV)

"Emily!" someone called. I turned my head to the left, smiling.

"Ju, you look as fine as your name," I said as a deep fiery redheaded girl with freckles that were dashed across the bridge of her nose, and eyes that were a mix of every color came running from behind a large desk. All around us were women walking around in pure white robes, some with matching white slippers, others not, and some with a towel turban wrapped around their heads.

"And you, Emily, look as ever, ravishing _gorgeous_," Jewel replied. A cough from behind me brought me back to the task.

"Right. Girls, this is Jewel Sparkles. Jewel, this is Samantha Levequ, Jennifer Brythingham, Rachel Hansen, Nya Flamy, and the one who is desperate need of beauty attention, Jordan Valdez." I pointed each girl out as I said her name. Jewel blinked a few times as her eyes did a quick survey of Jordan, who was struggling against the layers of duct tape that held her hands tightly behind her back.

"Hello," Jewel said in a quiet voice. Jen bobbed her head, Sam waved, Nya said hi, Rachel smiled, and Jordan was quietly seething, although it was crystal clear that she wanted to scream a few sharp words.

"So, if you girls will follow me into the back." Ju broke the silence. Turning around, she led us down multiple corridors of creamy gold, light rose pink, luscious purple, and ruby red. We passed carefully-painted vases, oval-shaped mirrors, and countless doors, some open, but many closed. Paintings were carefully hung, each featuring a different setting: beautiful sunset or sunrise, a serene lake with a distant mountain range, a tranquil forest, and other peaceful nature paintings. The carpet was white shag carpet, so thick that you easily sank down to your ankles. Everything here was meant to soothe a girl and to relax her. Darkness did not exist in Ninjago City's Spa and Resort. The best thing about it is that the only males here were the handsomest, best massagers, life guards, and hair stylists in all of Ninjago (and do they do their job well, too). This place always came in first on Ninjago's list of beauty salons.

"Oh, wow," Jen breathed as we walked past a solid glass wall. On the other side was the pool resort. Steam turned the glass opaque, but we could still easily see. Jewel smiled.

"Our pools are cleaned five times daily," she said, "because with so many women coming here daily, it is mandatory that the pools are cleaned to keep the skin's pores open, and to kill any type of bacteria growth. No one wants to take a relaxing swim in bacteria-infested water, do they?"

"That is a good point," Rachel agreed. Jewel smiled again and continued to lead us through the maze.

* * *

(Sam's POV)

Jordan let out a loud wail as one of the attendants ripped off a long, wide strip of paper designed for waxings. Her legs were looking better, I will admit to that, but they were still quite hairy. No wonder she wouldn't wear shorts!

"How much longer?" Jordan complained loudly as a second attendant applied more cream. "I feel like I've been put into a blender." I crossed my arms over my chest. I felt an eyebrow slowly raise in question.

"That makes no sense, Jordan," I said.

"Shut up, Sam!" she snapped at me before letting out another pained noise. I sighed, closing my eyes.

"Make me, Yin!" I retorted. She glared threateningly at me, but it didn't faze me. After living with this stuck-up Death Kunoichi with one heck of a bad attitude, anything that came from her didn't faze me anymore.

Jordan continued to yell in pain with every brutal yank, but with a few minutes, her legs were hairless. With a little difficulty, she managed to stand up and hobbled over to the refreshments. She popped open the lid on a can of Mountain Dew, but Jewel quickly swooped in and plucked it out of her hand.

"Patients are not allowed to have any type of soda," she said, "or junk food." Jordan looked outraged. I handed her a bottle of lemon-flavored water instead. She snatched it out of my hand, ripped the top open, and gulped it down, glaring at me.

"How long is this going to keep up?" Little Miss Death Girl grumbled. I smiled at her.

"Not long," I said in a pleasant voice, "we've faced worse things than this, Jordan."

"Don't remind me," was the sulky reply.

* * *

(Jen's POV)

"This feels good, doesn't it?" I asked Jordan, who was on the massage table next to me. She mumbled something that was inaudible. I sighed.

"What's next after this?" she asked. Jewel consulted her list, flipping papers on her clipboard.

"A half-hour of light yoga, followed by a luxurious bubble bath," she said, looking up. Jordan groaned.

"Come _on_, Jordan," Nya said, "yoga's good for you. It increases your flexibility, balance, grace, health, mood, attitude, _and_ your self-esteem."

"It wasn't that," Jordan protested, "there was this massive knot that I had in my shoulder. Now it's gone."

"That's why it's called a _massage_," Rachel, Nya, Sam, Emily, Jewel, and I chimed at the same time. For some strange reason, we began laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jordan demanded. "I don't get it."

* * *

(Jordan's POV)

After a half-hour of yoga, I spent another half-hour in a five-foot deep tub that was filled with actual hot water and multicolored bubbles. They were basically Easter pastel colors, but they each smelled the same: Eucalyptus Spearmint. After that, I was rubbed down hard to get all the dead skin cells off, so after that was done, my skin was rosy, glowing, completely stripped of all dead cells and hair, and smelling strongly of eucalyptus spearmint. And then, I had a manicure and pedicure.

After that was done, it was time for me to change into my dress. If I could have gotten my choice of dress shoes, I would have chosen black ballet flats. Instead, I got glittery, black five-inch high heels that had thin straps going across the tops of my feet. If I absolutely _had_ to wear heels, then I would have chosen a pair that had smaller heels. But most definitely _not_ five-inches. Once that was over and done with, it was time for hair and make-up (gag).

"Style number three hundred twenty-seven should do the trick," Jewel told the stylist. He nodded once before getting straight to work.

He undid the messy bun that my hair had been wrestled in to, careful on the large knots. He then swiveled my chair around so that he could wash the thick, tangled, black sheet. Once my hair had been shampooed and conditioned well, he squeezed as much water as he could before propping me back up straight and once again turning me around.

I lost track of the time, but during the last few minutes, he instructed me to close my eyes, which I did. I felt him gather my hair up, brushing it occasionally. I once again lost track of the time, but he must have been done with my hair, because he called for a team of make-up artists.

After hearing bags being unzipped, plastic containers being opened, and some metal clinging, I felt soft, small, fine-tipped brushes gently running over my closed eyelids while I felt a larger brush stroke my cheeks. Something that felt a little like chap stick, except slightly harder, being dabbed onto my lips. The brushes that were running over my eyelids eventually disappeared, along with the larger brush that I felt on my cheeks.

"Can she open her eyes now?" I heard Emily's voice ask.

I felt something gently scraping my scalp before hearing a snap.

"Jordan, you can open your eyes now," Jewel said. I was suddenly nervous. What would I look like? I blinked my eyes slowly, cautiously, but then they flew open wide with shock. As I studied myself in the mirror, I couldn't help but think: _Who is _that_ girl?_

* * *

**Congratulations, Jordan. You have survived your first girly-girl treatment, which did not kill you. *thinks for a few moments* Actually, it's going to be quite hard to kill you, since your element is death...  
**

**Okay, I'm going to explain what Jordan looks like in the next chapter, so just hold on to your horses (or should I say dragons?) ;) **

**And so, with that said, have a good day/night, have a good weekend, and peace.**

**(P.S.-I've got a poll on my profile, so go check it out. I'll probably close it whenever I complete _Zane's Fate_ [which will not happen], but the actual date has yet to be decided. Thanks.)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Merry Early Christmas, everybody! And, just because, and a Happy New Year! ****So, there's my seasonal salutations to y'all.**

**Okay, so I ended the previous chapter with Jordan getting a make-over (I would sympathize her, but she isn't one to appreciate sympathy). It was kinda a cliffhanger (I'm kinda rather attached to those things), but in this chapter, you will see (or should I say _read_) what she looks like.**

**I had to change Josh's elemental color to silvery-white, because who's ever heard of a light red Ninja of Life? (I mean, _REALLY_!) I had a discussion with MasterDerp5885 about that, and they agree that I should change it, because then it'll seem more legit. Also, I got kinda chewed out by, once again, MasterDerp5885, on the fact that I switched POVs too fast. It was to show time lapse, so that should clear it up if you had any questions about that.**

**Checklist time!  
1) Seasonal salutations-check  
2) Brief summery about the previous chapter's ending-check  
3) The change for Josh's elemental color-check  
4) Okay, I've been meaning to tell you guys this, but this will (hopefully) explain the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Garmadon, our beloved Sensei Wu, and Dr. J.**

**Misako decided that she and Garmadon needed to go on a cruise to spend a little quality time together after being separated for the First Spinjitzu Master knows how long, and, being the annoying little brother that he is, Wu begged to come along. So, after a while, Garmadon relented, and so now the Spinjitzu Trio (Garmadon, Wu, and Misako) are on a cruise. Dr. Julian is back at home in the hollow tree where he built Zane, and is coming up with new inventions to pass the time. (Hope that cleared a few things up.)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago (I'm getting sick of always having to repeat the same thing over, and over, and over again)**

* * *

(Josh's POV)

I straightened my silvery-white bow tie nervously before checking my hair. I knew Jordan didn't care about looks, but still.

"Relax, Josh," Cole said lazily, "you'll do fine."

"Last I checked, you weren't going out with the one with the bad attitude." I didn't mean for it to come out as a retort, but that's what happened. Cole looked at me, an unreadable light glinting in his eyes.

"Sorry, Yang," he grumbled, "but I'm just trying to reassure you that it'll be okay. Trust me, it's okay to be nervous. Especially whenever you're going to try to neutralize your arch-element." I sighed. I opened my mouth to say a retort that I meant on purpose, but just then Cole's Samsung Galaxy S4 rang. He reached over to the nightstand, desperately scrabbling at his phone. It fell on the floor, resulting in a muffled hiss from him, and then he scooped it up.

"Yeah? Oh, hi sweetie. You're done? Good. There's an anxious Josh pacing."

"I am not!" I snapped, but habit won over. I continued to pace in anxiety and impatience.

"Hurry up; he can't stand it any longer. I love you, too. See you in a few." And then he hung up, a huge triumphant grin on his face.

"Josh," he announced, "you've got a date with destiny in about two minutes." Why is it always two minutes?

* * *

(Cole's POV)

I left a dressed-up Josh pacing in the room, who was clearly anxious. I honestly do not blame him. I would be nervous too if I was going out on my first date with Jordan.

I climbed up onto the slanted roof that was protecting the bridge. Lying down on my back, I fidgeted, searching for the right position. Once I had gotten situated, I put my hands behind my head, my skin soaking up the warmth from the heated roofing tiles. Crossing my ankles, right over left, I closed my eyes against the setting sun, muting the colors. I let out a blissful sigh through my nose. This was the first time that I actually felt relaxed since Kryptor came aboard. Still, even though we barely ever saw him, I still had a nagging feeling in my gut. I pushed him out of my mind so I could be at peace for a while before Josh signed his death warrant…I mean, went out on his first date. Before I knew it, I was falling asleep.

* * *

(Emily's POV)

We finally reached the _Bounty_. I sighed happily. There's nothing like returning to your newly restored flying ship with a still-very-ticked-off dress-clad Death Kunoichi who looked like she would rather be ripped into a million shreds by the Great Devourer than go out on a date with her arch-element.

Cole was snoozing on the roof, looking peaceful. I smiled.

"You girls go inside," I said, still looking at Cole, "I've got one last thing to do." They followed my gaze, giggling.

"Okay, Lover Girl," Sam snickered. I scowled at her, but it was half-hearted.

As soon as Jen, Sam, Nya, Rachel, and Jordan disappeared, I climbed onto the roof, sat down on the heated red shingles next to Cole.

His face was soft, his cheekbones less angular than when he was awake. As always, his lips were full, but not pouted in their usual frown. As I continued to look at him, he started giggling. Not his usual laughter, but instead it sounded like a young, carefree boy of about five years of age. It sounded so sweet and melodic that I just wanted to turn back the clock on him and turn him back into a five-year-old so I could hold him on my lap.

_What a nice fantasy that would be,_ I thought dreamily. Tilting my head slightly to the right, I continued to gaze dreamily down at my sleeping boyfriend's face. Before I could stop myself, I leaned down and pressed my lips to his.

His eyes fluttered open with shock, but his hand was already sliding up to my neck. His lips moved against mine, causing a small shiver raced up and down my spine.

"Cole and Emily, sittin' on the roof, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, second comes marriage, third comes Cole with the baby carriage!" Kai's teasing forced Cole and I to break apart. The two of us glared down at the grinning Fire Ninja, who started snickering before running inside.

As I started to descend the ladder so I could kill the Inferno, Cole wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me back down next to him.

"Ignore that hothead," he murmured, his lips brushing against my ear. I pulled my knees up so that I hugged them hard against my chest, resting my chin on the tops of my knees. Cole gently pulled me closer to him, the muscles of his arm rippling and contracting with the movement. I smiled as he kissed my cheek.

"I try to," I said irritably, "but it's like trying to ignore an entire hive of yellow jackets that keep buzzing in and out of your hair and around your head. It's annoying the Underworld out of me."

"Hey now," Cole chided, "there's no need for that." I shivered, pulling my knees up even closer. Even for it being late summer, it still had cool evenings.

"Well, sorry," I replied sarcastically, turning my head to the left, watching the sun vanish behind a mountain range. The Golden Peaks reflected the dying rays.

Warm lips gently pressed against my jaw, slowly sliding down to the base of my neck. Sighing, I dug my elbow hard into Cole's sternum, pushing him away from me.

"Why do you always do that?" he demanded as I started to climb down the ladder. I paused briefly, only to look at him.

"Maybe it's because I don't want you kissing me on my neck," I replied coldly.

"Emily," he began, but I had vanished.

* * *

(Lloyd's POV)

"We're back." Rachel poked her into the room that I shared with the other guys, so whenever she saw me sitting on Josh, she looked confused.

"I had to," I said, my shoulders rising and descending smoothly. "He wouldn't stop pacing, at it was annoying me like heck."

"Well you can get off him now," she replied, "because we've got a present for him." Underneath me, Josh groaned. I turned my head to the right and looked down at him. He twisted his head to glare at me. I looked back up at Rachel.

"He makes for quite a comfy seat," I told her, shifting my position. I started to bounce up and down on Yang. Rachel's right palm met her forehead as she shook her head. She twisted her left wrist, and then left.

I let out a startled squawk as thick, green tendrils started to curl around my waist, arms, legs, and wrists. The more I struggled, the thicker, longer, and heavier they got. They pulled me into the air, allowing the Life Ninja to escape.

"Sucker!" he crowed before scampering out the door. I let out a furious yell as the door closed behind him.

I continued to flail around, but I probably shouldn't have done that, because within a few minutes, I looked like a fish tied-up in a net. Five inch thick vines were wrapped around my wrists, waist, legs, and ankles, holding them tightly in place. And, unfortunately for me, I had a tightly-woven green noose wrapped loosely around my neck. I sighed.

"Rachel!" I called, "Tell your vines to let me go!"

"You're the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master, aren't you?" she yelled in reply. "So you can figure it out yourself!"

"Why am I always the one to get tied up?" I grumbled. "You'd think I'd be pretty good with knots by now." I grinned humorlessly whenever I said the words that I had said when I was still a cute eight-year-old.

I slowly started to twist my wrists, loosening the knots. The noose around my neck grew tighter, and I realized that I had to wait, suspended in midair, for my girlfriend to come free me. However long _that_ was gonna take for her to get back to me, as she could easily forget her vines that were threatening to choke the life out of me.

_Hey, you're the Ultimate Spinjitzu Master, aren't you?_ Rachel's words rebounded in my head. Realization dawned on me.

"You little fire-breathing, dragon-digested, Great-Devourer-bitten, horse-trodden, bucket full of moldy leaves and bark!" I screeched in outrage. I summoned my earth powers, and the vines snapped like toothpicks.

"So, he finally figured it out!" Rachel taunted me after I had kicked the door open and ran onto the deck. She was swinging on a swing that was made of more vines (yippee) braided with thick ropes of tightly-woven bark.

"You had a _noose_ tied around my neck!" I screamed at her. She shrugged, looking as innocent as always. Her big, hawk brown eyes with orange flecks stared down at me. I gritted my teeth before launching myself in the air. Rachel shrieked as I knocked her from her perch. The two of us hit the deck hard, knocking the wind from both of us.

"You okay?" I wheezed.

"Winded, but yeah," Rachel replied, sounding just as breathless as me.

"Good." I pushed myself off the ground so that I sat up before pouncing on her. The fight didn't last long, though. She just simply brought her knee up swiftly and hard, and the next thing I know, I'm curled up on top of her, whimpering in pain.

"Aww, did da wittle Ultimate Spinjitzu Master get a boo-boo?" Jen asked in a mocking baby voice as she appeared on the deck.

"Shut up," I hissed, but it came out as a high-pitched, undignified squeak of pain. The Water Kunoichi rolled her eyes, grinning.

"Do you need some water?" Jen reached over the rail, and immediately, a huge ball of water appeared in her hand. My eyes grew big, and I scrambled backwards, ignoring the pain that ran down my legs and in my hips. I knew too well what Jen was capable of doing whenever she had a ball of water in her hand.

She stalked towards me, looking as sly and as cunning as a fox. The ball of water started to glow a light blue color.

"Ladies, we don't need to do this," I said nervously, holding up my hands in a _time out_ gesture, as Jen and Rachel cornered me.

"You're right, Lloyd," Rachel replied smoothly, "we don't _need_ to. Instead, we _want_ to."

"Wanting and needing are two different things," Jen added in an equally smooth voice. My heart sank in dread as she raised the glowing water ball. She threw it towards my face, and because she was so close to me, I knew that she would not miss.

* * *

(Josh's POV) **(Again)**

"Can we just get this over with?" Jordan irritably asked. Emily sighed, exchanging an annoyed look with Sam.

"Fine," Sam snapped. "You can take the stupid cloak off."

"I, uh, don't want to." Emily face-palmed before ripping Jordan's hood back, revealing the changed Death Kunoichi. My mouth slid open with shock as I gawked at her.

Her long, pure black hair had been pulled up into an elegant bun that had a small wreath of silver flowers wrapped around the base. The silver streak in her hair had been skillfully braided, and it vanished into the middle of her bun. Her eye shadow was a soft, smoky gray color, and her eyeliner was black, causing her eyes to look deep, mysterious, and large. Her cheekbones looked sharp and angular, while her cheeks were lightly dusted with powdery blush. Her lips were the color of blood, and they looked fuller than normal. Her earrings were pure silver, along with her necklace. I closed my mouth, sucking back the drool that was threatening to spill out of the corners of my mouth.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Jordan Lee Valdez?" My voice came out slightly raspy.

"Ask the people at the spa," was Jordan's response. _No kidding,_ I thought. It was quiet for about thirty seconds, and then Cole cleared his throat.

"Well," he began, "you two are burning moonlight. Also, you're reservation won't last forever." Just then, Lloyd spilled into the room, a complete mess.

His blond hair was plastered to his head, his clothes soaking wet, as if he had decided to do a cannon ball off a diving board and into the ocean. Blood oozed out of multiple nicks and scratches, but a particularly nasty cut went down his left cheek. Blood pulsed freely, running down his jaw and to the tip of his chin. Big red fat drops dripped onto his shirt, causing him to look like a Christmas tree spray-painted.

"I hurt," he complained, raising a hand to wipe away the blood. It smeared over his cheek, nose, and mouth, making it look like he put on war paint. Behind him appeared Jen and Rachel, laughing. Lloyd's spine tensed, and a hand shot out. Ice shot out of his palm so fast that the two girls couldn't leap out of the way to avoid the ice. They made very nice ice statues, actually. All eyes turned to Lloyd.

His hand was still up, his posture tense. His head was turned at an angle so that it appeared that he was looking at the frozen Kunoichi while looking at the opposite wall at the same time. His emerald green eyes smoldered with rage. His jaw was set, an obvious sign that his teeth were tightly clenched as he seethed under his skin.

"First," he began, the air hissing out of his teeth, "Rachel almost chokes me with her stupid vines. Second, Jen almost drowns me. Third, they teamed up, and almost beat me to a pulp. And since I only have earth, ice, fire, and lightning, I can't counteract them." He turned his head to look at us, only a certain Death Kunoichi caught his attention. Lloyd gave a low whistle of appreciation as his eyes roamed up and down Jordan. His nose suddenly squirting blood. His hand flew up to his nose, plugging it.

"This is what happens when a guy suddenly gets hit by a wave of gorgeousness," he said, his voice a little muffled. He turned and started for the bathroom. Rolling his eyes, Zane got up and followed. But he was visibly shaking. I narrowed my eyes. Zane was never scared…until now.

* * *

**...**

**I've _really_ got to stop torturing you guys with those kinds of endings. I know I haven't been talking about Zane's little problem, but I promise, I'll get back to Kryptor within the next few chapters, starting with Chapter 11.**

**Question Time!**

**1) What do you think will happen on Jordan's and Josh's date?**

**2) Is this going overboard with all my OCs, or is it fine?**

**3) Was Lloyd's POV was good?**

**4) Was Josh's POV good?**

**5) Do you think Zane will get another 'warning' from Kryptor? If you said yes, then what do you think will the message be? If you said no, then do you think that Kryptor will give a 'warning' to another?**

**6) Why do I ask so many questions?**

**7) Is Question Time becoming boring? If you said yes, then I'll stop. If you said no, then I'll keep going.**

**8) Have you voted on my poll that's on my profile yet?**

**9) Have you reviewed yet?**

**...**

**That's it for Question Time, folks. Remember: tell me your answers in the reviews, and don't forget to tell me what you think of it so far. And with that being said, have a good day/night, peace, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. **

**2014, here we come!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Happy Monday, everybody! I hope you all had a good Christmas, and got what you wanted. I got three things that I was not expecting: the Temple of Light (and Golden Mech, which I completed both last night [my fingers are still hurting, but only slightly]), and two Ninjago DVDs: the preseason (that's what I call the four episodes before Rise of the Snakes), and Rise of the Green Ninja. Before, I only had Jay's Storm Fighter, the Fangpyre staff, and Snappa. That is just _sad_ in my POV.  
**

**Anyways, here's my New Year's Eve present to you guys: Chapter 11! But before that can happen, I just want to say:**

**1) Thanks for answering the questions that I asked. I really liked your answers, cause then I know that everyone's paying attention. *epic face* JK. I just ask them 'cuz I can.**

**2) anna-element99: that is a very good question that you asked, and there is a reason for that, which is answered in this very chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago**

* * *

(Zane's POV)

I wrung out a wet cloth that had been soaked in cold water before dabbing it onto Lloyd's scratches. He winced from the sting of it, but he held his tongue, clearly determined not to make a sound. There was an awkward silence that was growing each passing second.

"I never knew that Jen and Rachel could make such a formidable team," Lloyd said just as I finished wiping the dried blood off his left shoulder. The gash was, fortunately, shallow, but blood was still seeping out from underneath the still-soft scabs.

"Depending on their moods, they can be as vicious as their elements," I replied, smearing anti-infection cream over the ugly gash on his cheek. It looked slightly green around the jagged opening, so I am assuming that Rachel used her elemental blade, staining the wound with chlorophyll. Lloyd jerked his head away from my hand, looking at me. His slim eyebrows were drawn slightly over his emerald green eyes, which were shining as always, but glazed slightly with pain.

"I know it burns," I said before he could say anything, "but it speeds up recovery and helps fight infections." Lloyd went back to his original position, and I finished smearing the cream over his cheek.

"A week after the Final Battle, and I'm once again cut up," he grumbled. "It ain't fair."

"Who ever said life was fair?" I countered, smearing more cream onto his other scratches.

"Josh," Lloyd immediately said, "he's fair. And he's life!" Even with my funny switch on, I still did not smile. Kryptor's note left me very disturbed and very scared, although I am not as scared as I was originally.

Lloyd slid off the counter, skipping out of the bathroom with a cheerful look on his face. I sighed. At least _someone_ is happy.

I walked out of the bathroom, turning the light off. I considered going to the deck, which was to my left, going back to the living room, which was to my right, or going to the room that I shared with the other males, which was straight ahead. I went with option one. I walked into the hallway and turned right. After a few steps, I had an eerie feeling. I whirled around. What my database picked up made me shut down for about five seconds. It was Kryptor.

"What do you want?" I growled at him.

"Nothing," he replied in a monotone voice, "except for one thing. You." My gears locked up at that.

"Why me?" My voice accidentally squeaked.

"Because you hold my interest." I blinked rapidly, staring at him.

"I-I am already taken," I stammered. I apologize, but what Kryptor said made me automatically think of relationships. Whenever I have thoughts like those, I _know_ that everyone has been talking and joking too much about relationships.

"Not like that," Kryptor hissed in impatience. "I mean, because you are a droid."

"_Nin_droid!" I snarled heatedly. He scoffed.

"You accept the title that they gave you?" he sneered. "You honestly believe that they have your back whenever you go off to fight? How do you know that they won't suddenly abandon you?"

"I know they won't!" I yelled. "They are my brothers and my sisters! We have trained together for years!"

"Zane! Why are you shouting?" Jen suddenly appeared in the hallway. Kryptor and I glanced at her at the same time. She gasped, staggering backwards, her hand covering her mouth. And then, like a puff of smoke, Kryptor was gone, leaving only a chill of piercing red eyes.

"It does not concern you," I sneered nastily at her. Jen's eyes grew wide before turning around and running back the way she had just come.

Usually, I would have felt guilt for sneering like that, but I felt nothing. Only hardened ice.

* * *

(Jen's POV)

I was lying on my back, on my bunk. My hands were folded neatly over my flat stomach. My gaze was fixed onto the white ceiling. In my mind, I replayed the scene that I came across.

_I heard Zane shouting something, and I got up from my seat, walking to the hallway._

_ "Zane? Why are you shouting?" I had asked. Whenever he had looked at me, I wasn't seeing Zane. Instead, I had seen a fierce-looking warrior, sharp fangs on the right side of his mouth, a clever attachment if someone was looking directly at his profile. His skin looked like a few drops of liquid ice, because it was a very light shade of ice blue. His hair wasn't in the orderly style that it usually was. Instead, it was a few shades darker than his skin, the exact same color blue as his eyes, and it was styled a little unruly for him. There was an evil grin on his face, his eyes cruel. I gasped, staggering backwards. He and Kryptor looked like brothers due to the same body shape, the same eye shape and placement, and, even freakishly, the exact same height. _

_ After he had sneered at me, I had run back to my room._

I sat up, whenever it dawned on me. I leaped down from my bunk and ran to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open rather forcefully.

"Emily! Sam! Rachel!" I called out the names of the other Kunoichi. "Meet me in the bridge!"

"What happened?" Emily asked, her stormy blue-gray eyes flaring with alarm.

"I think I figured something out about a connection between Zane and our creepy guest," I said.

"Well, spit the details out," Rachel ordered eagerly, tapping her fingers against the wooden table. Taking a deep breath, I began to tell them what I saw.

* * *

(Rachel's POV)

"Wait," I said, pressing my palms to my temples. "Are you saying that Zane and Kryptor could possibly be brothers?"

"Maybe," Jen replied, "I don't know. There are sometimes whenever I feel like I don't know anything anymore. This counts as one of those times." I sighed.

"I know what you mean," Emily agreed with her. "I get that all the time with Cole. That muscle show-off," she added under her breath. Sam rolled her eyes, sighing.

"_Now_ what did he do to you?" she asked irritably.

"Flexed," Emily replied simply, "in the bathroom, and in front of the mirror. Fortunately for my eyes and my memory, he was in a towel. Although, now that I think about it, his towel _was_ starting to slide down a little in the front," she added. Jen, Sam, Nya, and I face-palmed. Only _Emily_ would spy on a guy when he's getting ready to take a shower. Then again, that _could_ probably explain why she knows so much about them…then again, she could be a stalker in disguise...

"Please," Sam said, "if I find out that you saw _my_ boyfriend's backside…"

"I avert my eyes from them whenever they are pulling down their boxers," Emily interrupted, "and instead, I watch their heels. By the way, Rachel, Lloyd's got nice heels."

That was probably an accidentally wording on Emily's part, but it caused Jen, Sam, Nya, and I to start cackling up a storm. Emily looked at us, bewildered.

"What did I say?" she asked.

I was too busy laughing, but I managed to stop long enough to gasp out, "I didn't know Lloyd wore high heels!"

Five seconds later, Emily was laughing as hard as the rest of us.

After a few minutes of tear-bringing laughter, we finally caught our breath.

"Speaking of spying on males in the shower," Emily said, looking mischievously at Sam. "We still have Smokin' Hot Abs to take care of."

Sam's face paled at her words. I exchanged questioning looks with Jen and Nya.

"Absolutely not, Emily," Sam countered, "no. I will not get back at Kai like you did Cole. I can't _believe_ that you had the guts to do _that_ in front of him, and you won't even wear short-shorts in public!"

"True," Emily admitted, "but FYI, I was using Jen's bikini top, since we're practically the same size, despite her being the same height as Cole. So, technically, Cole never truly saw me without some form of a top on." Emily looked smug; Jen looked outraged.

"So _you_ were the one who stole my bikini top!" she yelled heatedly.

"Yep," Emily replied smoothly and casually. "But I prefer tank-kinis, if you don't mind. I don't feel exposed as much. Anyways," Emily continued, "Sam, we need to start planning your revenge on your boyfriend, while Jen, you make an appointment with Dr. Julian. Talk to him about your little vision, ask him about Kryptor, and then tell us what he has to say about it."

"What about Josh and Jordan?" Nya fretted. "Shouldn't they be warned?" Emily hesitated before answering.

"Let them party," the senior ninja eventually said. "We don't want to ruin their first date now, do we?"

That's actually rather legit.

* * *

(Jordan's POV)

After eating at a Japanese hibachi grill and sushi bar place, Josh and I took a walk in the park, barely saying anything to each other. I was still mad at having been wrestled into a dress and heels, so my mood probably didn't help. I could've cared less.

Josh was probably disappointed, as this was his first date ever, as well as mine, but frankly, I'm not a romance type of person. Instead, I'm a gamer. A vicious one at that, too.

After five more minutes of just walking around, my feet were blistered. I sighed. Josh turned his head and looked at me.

"It's the heels," I said bluntly before he opened his mouth.

"Oh," was his reply.

I stopped long enough to rip the stupid things off. I didn't realize exactly how cramped those shoes were, until I spread my toes. Ahh, relief.

"Ouch," Josh sympathized, looking at the big, red, ugly blisters on my heels and arches.

"Precisely why I would have worn black flats if I had my choice!" I said. "To avoid the blisters."

"I can carry you," he offered. I looked at him, my mouth sagging open.

"When I break both my legs," I replied, "then, you may carry me. Not before."

"Whatever you say, Yin."

After that, Josh and I started to talk about what happened in the last week. Lloyd defeating the Overlord; Emily and Cole getting even closer to each other (Josh had a hunch about their relationship was more than likely going a little deeper than just a simple boyfriend-girlfriend thing); Kryptor and his warning, and other stuff.

We were just beginning to talk about our favorite smoothies whenever I suddenly stopped. I could feel something that dealt with death aimed towards Josh, and I reached out and grabbed him, pulling him into me. He stumbled into me with a little more force than I expected, sending the two of us sprawling to the ground. A few seconds later, there was a small explosion, as if Jay and Kai had decided to set off quite a few firecrackers. Sulfurous smoke rolled towards our direction. Josh and I started coughing and wheezing.

I suddenly felt a numbing sensation, as if I had stuck my finger in a light socket. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, too. My insides felt frozen, and then they started to 'melt.' I turned my head to look at Josh, and I could tell that he just felt what I felt.

"I was set up." Josh's voice was weak.

I opened my mouth to reply, but I sensed another firecracker dart headed towards him. I rolled on top of him, curling my hands into fists, clutching his tux jacket tightly, and then I flipped myself onto my back, dragging him along with me.

"You owe me big time," I said tartly as I glared deep into his eyes. Just then, I realized how beautiful his eyes were. They were a bronze color, faint stripes of dark gold dappling his irises.

"I will ask what I need to pay you later," Josh replied. He got off me, helping me up.

"Good," I retorted, "Because I've no idea what you should pay me for saving your hide twice." A prickling sensation made me whirl around. My eyes darted back and forth, my senses on edge. I heard a sharp _twang,_ like Jen whenever she plucks the string on her bow, and a small, slim flash of silver. My right hand snapped out, and caught the dart.

"Good reflexes," Josh praised me as I inspected the small, three inch-long dart. A one/third of the dart was a dangerously sharp tip. On closer inspection of the blade, I saw a single drop of glowing, bright green liquid on it. My blood turned to acid once I recognized the color.

"The Instant Poison," Josh whispered. His head jerked up, his eyes flickering back and forth. I opened the purse that the girls back at the _Bounty_ forced me to bring along, and placed the poisoned dart inside the most central pocket.

"There's someone else here." Josh's voice was hoarse. "And we're powerless."

"Exactly _how_ is that possible?" I demanded.

"Long story short," Josh began, "Kai, Jay, and Cole set me up to go out with you, so I could figure out your one weakness so that I could _neutralize_ you."

My eyebrow slid up my forehead in question.

"Kai compared the two of us as being the most basic and the most acidic solutions on the pH scale," Josh continued, "with you being the most acidic, and me being the most basic. What happens when you combine two solutions that are complete opposites? You get a neutral solution."

"And _Kai_ said that?"

"Yes."

"The guy may protest about not being smart, but he knows more than he lets on."

"Yes."

"Wow."

"Yes."

I opened my mouth to say something else concerning Kai's knowledge range, whenever I sensed something from behind.

I whirled around, the skirt part of my dress flaring up around my hips. My eyes picked up nothing. It was quiet.

Josh suddenly gasped in pain, crumbling to the ground. I looked at him, confused.

He seemed to be wrestling with an invisible person, and by the looks of it, the unseen person was winning. An idea clicked in my head. Slowly opening up my purse, I took out one of Jay's clever smoke devices. I pushed the button, and I turned it upside down onto the wrestling duo.

The smoke immediately poured out of the top. Josh coughed once, but it did the trick. What was invisible became visible.

Josh heaved both legs up, and kicked the person in the stomach hard. There was an, "Oof!", and then Josh was on top. He temporarily paralyzed his attacker by hitting pressure points on the collarbone and the back of the neck. He stood up, rolling his shoulders. I looked at him, impressed.

"That should help," I said.

"Yeah." There was an already vivid dark circle around his left eye, and he spit blood out of his mouth, but nonetheless, he was fired up.

"You know, I can't exactly fight in a dress."

"Easy fix." Josh unfastened the sash that was going around my waist, and my skirt dropped to my feet. I looked at him, one eyebrow up, the other down, and my mouth opened in confusion. He shrugged, his eyes flickering to my legs. A heated flush crept across my face, but I glanced down. My embarrassment was immediately gone whenever I saw that I had a pair of skin-tight pants on. I looked at him.

"I figured that if this happened, you wouldn't want to be in a skirt," he said coolly, before letting out a yelp.

"When we were training, we never trained to fight against invisible people!" I snarled before getting an idea. I picked up the heels that I had abandoned in favor of going barefooted, and swung one towards Josh's attacker. The tip of the heel landed an eye. There was a high-pitched, blood-curdling scream of pain. Since I had another deadly spike in my hand, I swung that one too. Same result.

The attacker fled with two five-inch high heels in their eyes.

"Remind me not to tick _you_ off when you've got heels in your hands," Josh said, his voice thick from a split lip. He stood up.

"Did you manage a glimpse of their eyes?" I inquired as we started to jog back to the _Bounty_.

"Red," was the reply, "like Kryptor's. Looks exactly like him, too."

"Freaky," I mumbled. We picked up the pace, and soon, we were running at full speed.

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**...**

**WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ZANE, KRYPTOR?! I WOULD _KILL_ YOU, but I kinda need you (unfortunately) ;)  
**

**Josh's and Jordan's date ended in a fail...Jen's going to go talk to Dr. J...Emily's still planning revenge on a certain Fire Ninja with or without Sam's help...Emily spies on the guys (don't ask, please, cuz I don't know why)...and this will be my last post for 2013.**

**Until next year, remember to review, fav/follow, vote on my poll, and have a Happy New Year.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Hope you guys have been well. This is the fastest chapter I've written yet, but kinda short, once you read it. This is where it starts to become intense, if it wasn't already. **

**I don't own Ninjago**

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(Jen's POV)

The snow crunched underneath my boots as I made my way through the Birchwood Forest. My eyes flickered back and forth, keeping a close look-out for Treehorns. According to Emily, they had a nasty run-in with them. And according to Cole, that was the day that he hurled one of them (that's rather believable, due to his incredible strength). And according to Zane, that was the day that he unlocked his True Potential, and the day that he found out that he was a nindroid.

I spotted pale gray smoke emerging from a branch which was connected to a rather thick tree trunk. I smiled, walking over to the smoking tree. I knocked a few times, and then waited patiently.

"Jen! What a surprise!" The door opened to reveal an aging man with goggles on his forehead.

"Hi, Dr. Julian," I said, trying to ignore the fact that I was much taller than Zane's creator (by a _lot_). "I'm on a special mission that Emily forced me to do."

"What kind of mission?" Dr. Julian asked stepping backwards, and motioning for me to enter. I took a step forward, pushing my black-and-gold cloak hood down.

"Well," I began, a little uncomfortable, "it's about Zane and, um, our guest that's temporarily lodging with us on the _Destiny's Bounty_."

Dr. Julian didn't say anything as he bustled around, looking for two teacups while holding a teapot. It was the same light blue as Sensei's teapot, which he took with him when he left on vacation with his brother and sister-in-law.

"Well, I can't help you unless you tell me what this is all about." Dr. J. poured the tea. I took a deep breath in through my nose. I could smell peppermint with a few drops of spearmint.

"It was last Thursday, the day after the Final Battle," I began, "and it was an absolutely gorgeous morning, despite that fact that the previous day I had suffered bruised ribs, a broken leg, a concussion that was halfway in between mild and severe, and very deep and ragged gashes that have only just begun to heal, due to the Dark Matter _finally_ wearing off after six days"-I made a face that caused Dr. Julian to laugh-"anyways, after naming the falcon Syber, things started to become _very_ strange. The trees began to…" **(You guys know the rest of the story)**

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(Emily's POV)

My laptop was tucked underneath my arm as I made my way to the room that the males shared. I raised my hand to knock, whenever the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I whirled around, even though I knew who it was. But there was no one else in the hallway. Just me.

As my eyes continued to sweep side to side, a hand suddenly clasped itself over my mouth while the tip of a curved dagger rested on my throat. I gulped nervously, but I forced myself not to show any emotion.

"It's coming," Kryptor's voice whispered in my ear, "he's already turning. And it will be the last you see of him. His destiny is complete, but his fate has yet to happen. And there is _nothing_ that anyone can do to stop it."

_Oh, yeah?_ I wrenched the arm that was holding the dagger away from my throat, twisting it and flipping over his head.

I drew my elemental blade, but then but it back. I put my hands on the wall behind me, drawing a pair of daggers that were just so conveniently there. I whipped them out, taking a swipe at Kryptor. He sidestepped my dagger before aiming a scissors kick at me. I flipped backwards once, careful not to stab myself accidentally with one of my daggers. I grinned wildly, fastening the hilts of my daggers together, forming a fifteen-foot long javelin. Even after all these years, I've still no idea _how_ in all of Ninjago my javelin grows that long.

"You honestly believe you can stop me from unleashing the greatest fighting force onto Ninjago?" Kryptor hissed, pulling out his platinum sword and a chain whip. My eyes widened as I slowly retreated backwards.

"I'm not trying to stop you," I said, narrowly missing the spiked end of the lashing chain whip. "I'm just keeping you distracted long enough for the cavalry to arrive."

Nya snuck up behind him in her Samurai suit, wielding her S-shaped throwing blade. She took a swipe for the base of Kryptor's neck, but he whirled around, snarling like a lion with a thorn stuck in its paw. He whirled his whip around, aiming for her feet before taking a stab towards her abdomen. The second his gaze left me, I swiped at the small of his back in an attempt to stun him. His left elbow came up, and hit my shoulder. There was a loud _pop_, and a white-hot burning pain raced down my arm and into the rest of my body. My shoulder had been popped out of place.

Barely resisting a scream, I slammed myself into the wall. There was another pop, and the pain in my shoulder immediately faded to a dull feeling.

I leaped onto Kryptor's back, driving a dagger into his hip. My angle was off (a lot), and I missed my intended target, but Kryptor let out an unearthly blood-curdling scream of agony as the blade buried itself into a big-time weakness. Despite the situation, the area around Nya's eyes crinkled as she smiled behind her metallic mask of red and white. I grinned before drawing my other dagger, which I held firm against his throat.

"Stop whatever you're doing to Zane," I threatened, "or this blade will be the last thing you feel." To prove my point, I pushed the dagger in just enough for a few beads of blood to appear. Due to the dim lighting, his blood looked black.

Kryptor spat in fury, but he didn't try to free himself.

"I'd like to see you stop me," he sneered nastily. This guy was testing my patience, and I dug the blade in just enough for a small, thin trickle of blood to escape.

"Okay, okay." Kryptor started to sound desperate. "I swear by the First Spinjitzu Master that I'll stop hurting Zane, and I'll go. I'll be out of your hair for the rest of eternity."

"That's a rather long time," I retorted sharply, but nonetheless I withdrew my bloodied dagger from his neck and climbed off his back. "Now give me back my other dagger. You should be grateful that I'm letting you go without too much damage," I added coldly, glaring deep into his glowing, red eyes.

He reached down towards his waist, and pulled out my dagger, letting out a grunt of pain. The blade was covered from tip to hilt with blood, and some was splattered over the handle. I took it from him, but he leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Soon, brother will turn against brother and twin against twin. You have such a big responsibility that you cannot shoulder it alone. You will know what to do when the time is right. Have faith and trust in yourself, but remember this: you cannot prevent fate, no matter how hard you try." His hands suddenly gripped my wrists hard, almost causing me to drop my daggers. I swallowed nervously, but then, Kryptor was gone, leaving only a blood-covered floor.

"What was _that_ all about?" Nya asked me, her ebony black eyes wide.

"I don't know," I lied, "now come on. We have to get ourselves treated and clean up this mess before anyone gets suspicious of what happened. And tell _no_ one about this," I added in a soft hiss. Nya nodded, pulling her shoulders back and standing erect.

_I can't tell Cole,_ I silently told myself as Nya and I gently scraped the blood off our wounds. _If I tell him, then he'll demand to know all the details. But why did Kryptor say that brother would go against brother, and twin against twin?_ I pondered. _Even though Jay and I fight a lot, there is no doubt that we wouldn't betray each other. So why _would_ Kryptor say something like that? Was it another warning? But why would he warn us about something that he's about to do? It doesn't make sense,_ I realized. After thinking about it a few more minutes, I couldn't draw a clear conclusion as Nya and I started to clean the bloody mess.

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(Nya's POV)

Emily's face was a mask of deep thought, focus, and concentration as she scrubbed the walls. I wanted to ask her what was troubling her, but I didn't dare open my mouth.

Once we were done cleaning, the hall looked like a fight had never happened. Emily announced that she was going to now clean her bloodied daggers, so she disappeared into the weapons room. I headed towards my room so I could take off my Samurai armor. After a while, this gets heavy.

As always, it took me a few minutes to shed it, but I was grateful for the freedom that my usual red phoenix tunic and black leggings provided. Just as I was tying the sash around my waist, Jay poked his head into the room.

"You could at least knock," I chided him before he could open his mouth.

"Sorry, Nya," he replied, "but I need to talk to you about a few things." My blood ran slightly cold, but nonetheless I motioned for him to enter.

He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. I looked at him expectantly, my arms crossed over my chest.

"I don't have all day," I snapped irritably. Jay looked at me, startled.

"Bad day?" he asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Sorta," I replied slowly, also sitting down next to him. I had to choose my words carefully; otherwise something about the fight with Kryptor might accidentally slip out.

"When was the last time we had a date?" The question caught me off-guard, and I stared at Jay.

"Uh…two months ago, I think. Why? Does Kai know? Did you already ask him?" The questions flew from my mouth, and I couldn't help the excitement that flooded my voice.

"No," he replied. He suddenly looked down at his hands, which were clasped tightly and neatly on his lap. He raised his head to meet my gaze, and sadness flooded his big, dark blue eyes.

"Now what?" My voice lost its eagerness, and I feared Jay's answer.

His lips moved, but no sound came out. He cleared his throat, and tried again.

"We can't be together anymore." The words came out as a soft whisper. I stared at him, my mouth open in shock.

"I tried to tell Kai that it was a big mistake," Jay added hastily, "but he refused to listen. Then again, he's always been thickheaded and strict about whom you're allowed to be with." His head sagged once more, and he let out a sigh of defeat. "And in his eyes, I'll always be a poor, failing inventor who can't even keep a job for an entire month."

That was when something in me finally snapped. I sprang to my feet and ran out the door.

"Kai!" I roared. I slid to a halt in the game room, and there he was, playing Fist-2-Face 2 with Lloyd and Cole.

"Hey, Sis," Kai replied absentmindedly. "Do you mind getting me another Coke?"

I stormed over to him and grabbed him by one of the largest spikes on his head. He squealed like a little girl as I started to drag him ruthlessly out of the game room into the hallway, and into my room.

"Explain yourself," I snarled hotly as I pushed my brother onto the floor. He looked up at me, shock clear in his almond brown eyes. He scrambled to his feet and said in a shaking voice, "Explain what?"

"Don't play innocent! _Why_ did you tell Jay to break up with me?" I screamed fiercely, glaring at him.

"I did it because there's another guy that's _better_ for you!" Kai snapped in an equally ticked off voice.

"_I_ decide who I like! Not _you_!" I yelled. "You don't know Jay like I do, Kai!" Tears were starting to pour down my face by this point, yet I still kept going.

"You don't know what it's like to _finally_ meet someone who fits your personality perfectly!" I wailed as I continued to shed tears. "Growing up, I was always the one singled out as the reject, the one who stuck out in the crowds like a sore thumb, and I was always the one used in school because I was the smartest one out of my entire class! You were always the popular one, while I was always on the outskirts!" My voice was starting to grow slightly hoarse from all the screaming that I was doing, but I continued on.

"You were like a fat trout that was always basking in the warmth of praise, pride, and fame, while I was the tiny minnow, always cast in the darkness of your shadow!"

Kai gaped at me, thunderstruck, while Jay looked terrified to be caught in a fight like this. I took a deep breath, calming myself, although my blood was still boiling and rolling with rage. It was quiet for a few minutes afterwards, when Kai spoke.

"Nya, I had no idea what you were going through when we were going to school." Compared to my vicious voice, Kai's seemed weak and timid. "If I had known that's what you thought then earlier, then I never would have acted so arrogant. But I swear by my blood and fire, that I won't intervene between you and Jay ever again."

"Now and for the rest of eternity?" I pressed my older brother, my voice hard and cold.

"Now and for the rest of eternity," Kai confirmed. I considered his vow.

"Fine," I decided, "but you owe Jay an apology, and I mean a _real_ apology, not just by saying 'Sorry.' Is that understood?"

"Yes." Kai's voice seemed firmer now, and he turned to Jay, who was wearing an excellent poker face.

"Jay," Kai began, "I'm sorry that I've treated you like scum when it came to my sister, but I just wanted what was best for her. I should have looked past my nose, and saw the strength of the potential that you two possess as a great couple sooner, but I was stupid. Now I swear by my blood and fire that for now and for the rest of eternity, I will not intervene between you and my sister." On the last part, he turned to look at Jay, brown eyes meeting blue eyes. Jay nodded once slowly.

"Great!" I said, brightening up. "Now that that's taken care of, Jay, I believe we've got reservations to reserve for tonight at six." And with that, I brushed past Kai and wrapped my hand around Jay's upper arm. Just as I pulled him to his feet, a startled scream of shock pierced the air. Kai, Jay, and I wasted no time in hurrying to the door.

"Now what's wrong?" Sam asked irritably, poking her head out of a door further down from us. I shrugged before bounding towards the bridge.

Jen had her hand over her mouth, her sea blue eyes wide with shock, as she stared in horror at an ice statue.

"Oh, no," Cole breathed. There, standing in front of us, was a hollow, life-sized ice statue of…

"Zane!" Jen wailed. "No!"

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**...**

**CLIFFHANGER! OH, YEAH! I had that idea since the way beginning of _Zane's Fate_, so this is kinda ancient. ;) (Don't be mad at me, please.)  
**

**I wanted to do something creative with Kai, Jay, and Nya, and that was what I got. Was the apology good, or was it overrated?  
**

**I'll explain Zane's mysterious disappearance in the next chapter, which will take me IDK how long (let's hope it won't be long).**

**Question Time:**

**1) What do you think Dr. J will say to Jen?  
**

**2) What do you think Kryptor's warning to Emily means?**

**3) Will Zane turn evil, or will he somehow stay good?**

**Well, that's it for now, folks. Remember to review, fav/follow, and vote on my poll. And until I start Chapter 13, have a good day/night, and peace.**


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